The Thirteenth Colony
by cheeky-chaos
Summary: A Crossover between Stargate: Sg1 and Battlestar Galactica: 2003. Set around 25 years into the future, the Prometheus and it's crew find the Battlestar Galactica. All you favourite characters and more! More detailed summary inside. AU.
1. Prologue

Author's Note: This is a crossover with Battlestar Galactica 2003, and in a small way, season one of Stargate Atlantis.

Timeline: This story takes place just after the season one final of BSG2003 and about twenty-five years after season seven for Stargate. I know that seems like a lot, but just bare with me!

Spoilers: Minor spoilers for Stargate up to 'Grace' in season seven. Major spoilers for 'Kobol's Last Gleaming Part Two' for BSG2003.

I have included mentions of Atlantis and the team that went there, but I wanted to include Janet in my story, so the timeline is slightly AU. Apologies if it doesn't make sense.

Oh, and just a note: I changed the X-303's to BC-303's and the X-302's to F-302's after it was pointed out that they would no longer be experimental anymore. Thanks! I also changed some of the rankings that I had gotten wrong…sorry about all the mistakes guys!

Cheeky.

* * *

The Thirteenth Colony:

By cheeky-chaos

Prologue:

Jack sighed as he sank down onto the couch. He was exhausted. Work had been one problem after another, all demanding his attention and time. Sometimes it seemed as if no one could do anything without asking him his opinion or permission first. He sighed again and reached for the TV remote. As he flicked channels mindlessly, he wondered if he should call out for pizza or just go straight to bed.

The low hum of the television filled the empty house as Jack debated whether he was more tired or hungry, reminding him that he was all alone. And instead of making him feel better that no one else was here after the demands people had been making on him all day, Jack felt sad. He suddenly wanted company.

As if reading his mind, the phone rang. Hoping it wasn't someone at the base needing another opinion, Jack picked up. He had wanted company, and now it seemed he had it. "O'Neill." He greeted.

"Hey, Jack." A familiar voice said warmly. "I hoped you would still be up."

"Hey, Danny." Jack replied, smiling. It was always nice to hear from his old friend. "What's up?"

"Oh, the usual." Daniel answered. "And you?"

"Same as ever." Jack said. "You should drop by sometime, since I tend to spend most of my time on-base these days."

Daniel chuckled. "They won't let you play with your new toys yet?" he teased.

Jack rolled his eyes, even though his friend couldn't see it. However, having been friends with Jack for at least half his life, Daniel guessed what the response would be. "Poor, Jack." He added.

"You call for a reason, Danny-boy, or just to tease an old man?" Jack shot back, amusement filling his tone.

"You're not old, Jack." Daniel denied. "Because that means I am too."

Jack laughed. "Daniel, I'm 67 years old. Even with all that new medical technology we've got that fixed me up, I'm still old."

Daniel just grunted in disagreement. "Jack, you can run faster now that you could 30 years ago. Don't start that, I'm old stuff with me. I know you."

"Tell that to my kids." Jack said dryly. "They keep calling me 'the Old Warhorse'."

"That's better than 'the Old Relic'." Daniel snorted.

Jack laughed. "They didn't?" he asked, half-amused, half-incredulous.

"They did." Daniel answered. "Of course, it was fun to see Janet yell at them afterwards."

Jack nodded as he remembered the Doc's lectures that she used to give him. "Fun to watch, painful to go through." He commented. "How is Janet, anyway?"

"Good." Daniel said, before pausing slightly. There was a slight muffled conversation on the other end of the phone, before Daniel came back on. "She wants to talk to you."

"Sure." Jack said and waited as the phone was passed over.

"General?" Janet asked.

"Jack." Jack corrected, before she could continue.

He could almost see Janet rolling her eyes. "Alright then, _Jack_." Janet said. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, Janet." Jack replied. "And yes, that is a medical opinion." He added, forestalling any in depth conversation about his health.

"I know." Janet said. "I talked to Dr. Sinclaire."

Jack shook his head, unsure whether to laugh or groan. "So, you've been checking up on me, Doc?"

"I know you, Jack." Janet said dryly. "Besides, we can't have an intergalactic hero being unable to command his final mission."

"So you heard then." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Yes, we both did." Janet replied. "Are you entirely sure you know what you're doing?" she asked.

"Retiring?" Jack asked. "Sure. I'm not getting any younger, and now seems like as good a time as any to let the next generation take over. The Replicators haven't been seen in years, the Goa'uld are still in hiding and we're winning against the Wraith. Why shouldn't I go fishing?"

Janet laughed softly. "If anyone deserves it, it's you Jack." She said. "And I wanted to say thank you. For the mission."

"No problem." He said. "It wouldn't be the same without you."

Saying her goodbyes, Janet passed the phone back to her husband. "That goes for both of us." Daniel said, obviously having overheard Janet and his' conversation. "It will be great to take a break from everything and do a little exploring again."

"My thoughts exactly." Jack agreed. "It's been too long."

"It has." Daniel replied. "Now, I'd better let you get some sleep. I'd bet you've got a busy day tomorrow."

"Busy doesn't even begin to cover it." Jack answered. "'Night, Danny."

"'Night, Jack."

Jack sat there a moment after he put down the phone, smiling softly. Sometimes it didn't feel like all that much time had passed, and he was still a member or SG-1 exploring space through the 'gate. The he heard someone inserting a key into the front door and pushing it open. He wondered who it was, since not many people had keys to his house or visited this late at night, but was glad none the less.

"Jack?" a voice called.

Jack was surprised at the voice, not expecting to see the tall, slim blonde who had just walked into the living room. "Sam?" he asked. "I thought you weren't home until tomorrow night?"

Smiling tiredly at him, Sam walked over to the couch and sank exhaustedly onto it. Jack gathered her into his arms and she leaned gratefully on his shoulder. Despite the fact there were a few more lines around her clear blue eyes and silver threaded into her blonde hair, Jack thought his wife was just as beautiful as he had when he met her. And he never stopped feeling humbled every time he remember that she had chosen to spend her life with him and that she loved him as much as he loved her.

"The talks finished early." She explained tiredly. "The Asgard have agreed to help us set up an international transport system using some of their new technology in exchange for a copy of the schematics of the new BC-303 design."

"What do they want those for?" Jack asked, hoping Sam would give him the simple answer and not the one filled with techno babble.

"I was under the impression they were intrigued by some of the technology we've incorporated this time." Sam answered.

Jack nodded, not sure what else to say. Sam was clearly exhausted and he really didn't want to know any of the technical details of the new transport system. Alien technology just wasn't his specialty. He usually left that up to his wife or some other scientist. "So, how's Thor?" he asked instead.

"He's good." Sam replied. "He wants to wish you a happy retirement, though, so expect a visit soon."

Jack smiled. "Good old Thor."

Sam turned to face Jack. "Was your day any better than mine?" She asked.

"Nope." Jack said. "It seemed everyone had a problem they couldn't fix by themselves, not to mention the fact they needed to ask my opinion every second word. For crying out loud, I'm only a General. I don't know everything."

Sam smiled. "You're a hero to them, Jack." She said. "Most of the SGC personnel still believe you can actually walk on water."

Jack frowned. "Very funny, Carter." He said.

Sam smiled. "You haven't called me that in years." She remarked.

Jack grinned. "Probably has something to do with the fact your name's O'Neill now." He replied.

Sam snuggled closer to her husband and grinned. "Yeah, I do seem to remember something like that." She agreed.

Jack kissed her on top of her head and turned up the volume on the TV, just in time to catch the last half of the late night news. He raised his eyebrows in surprise when he heard the topic of the news article.

"…_and in other news,"_ the female anchorwoman began, _"The head of the SGC, General Mitchell Hayes, confirmed earlier today that the _U.N.E.S Prometheus_, the BC-303 class spaceship and flagship of the Tau'ri Fleet, is to be decommissioned after it's latest and last mission."_

"That was fast." Jack muttered. "The memo only passed my desk this morning."

"That might have something to do with your reluctance to do paperwork, Jack." Sam quipped.

"Yeah, it might." Jack agreed, unable to keep from smiling. He may be a General, but he still hated paperwork.

"_Commanding the _Prometheus_ on her last tour of duty is General Jack O'Neill, one of the original members of SG-1 and who is also rumoured to be retiring in a few months." _The reporter continued. _"Due to his brave and dedicated service, not only to this planet but to the rest of the Tau'ri and our allies, General O'Neill has been given special permission to include all of his old friends and colleagues, in what is thought to be his last mission."_

"_After the six month long tour, the _U.N.E.S Prometheus_ will be decommissioned in a small ceremony and the _U.N.E.S Protector_, first of a new breed of BC-303's, will take her place as the flagship of the Fleet."_ The anchorwoman said. _"While the new design of BC-303 class ships will be faster and more manoeuvrable than the old, it is a sad day when we lose two such heroes of our time."_

As the news moved onto other things, Sam turned to her husband and looked at him curiously. "So, it's true." Sam said. "You are taking command of the _Prometheus_ then?"

"They couldn't get anyone else to do it." Jack joked.

Sam shook her head at the joke, but couldn't help the smile that tugged at the corners of her mouth. She knew Jack was excited about commanding the _Prometheus_. He'd been a member of the Stargate Programme for around 30 years and Commander of the Tau'ri Fleet for ten. You didn't stick around that long doing paperwork if you didn't like your job. And Jack loved to fly more than anything else, even if he wasn't the pilot. It was one of the reasons that he spent half his time on Thor's ship whenever it was in orbit.

"So, who gets to pick just which of your old friends you get to bring along?" Sam asked with a speculative look in her eye.

"I do." Jack said smugly.

At her raised eyebrow, he grinned. "Retirement present." He explained.

"Do they realise what they've let themselves in for?" Sam asked.

"Nope." Jack answered. "And I intend to keep it that way until we've broken orbit – because then they can't do anything about it."

Sam laughed softly. Jack could act just like a little boy sometimes, always excited about getting his own way. "Who's going?" she asked.

"You, T, Daniel, Janet, and Ishta far." He ticked the names off on his fingers. "I'll be keeping most of the Marines, pilots and technicians already stationed aboard though."

"Me?" Sam echoed. "I'm coming?"

Jack gave her a sideways look. "I sent you a memo." He said.

Sam simply glared. Jack grinned back, nothing seeming to dampen his good mood. "I got special permission given my upcoming retirement." He said. "Besides, I told them there was no one better to send on _Prometheus'_ last mission than the woman who helped create the original."

Sam's smile broke off into a tired yawn. "I'm glad." She said sleepily. "It's been a long time since I've done anything except work in a lab."

"The SGC lost a good officer when you resigned your commission." Jack commented.

"True." Sam agreed. "But they wouldn't let me marry you otherwise, so it's their fault."

Jack chuckled. Then he reached over and turned off the TV. "Come on, let's get you to bed."

"Mmm." Sam agreed sleepily, causing Jack to chuckle softly again.

Together the two of them staggered up the stairs towards their bedroom. They both undressed quickly and slid beneath the covers as their eyes drooped. Almost asleep, Jack reached over and pulled his wife into his arms, before his eyes drifted shut on a contented sigh.

* * *

Captain Alexandra O'Neill grinned as she walked through the bustling and noisy off-world military base and headed towards the large mess hall. If she was lucky, she could grab a cup of coffee before she had to report for duty. She was dressed in her usual uniform of combat boots, olive green pants and jacket over a black T-Shirt. Her shoulder length brown hair was tied back in its usual braid and tucked under at the end and her brown eyes were hidden by sunglasses from the bright sunlight.

The sunshine was warm and helped Lex shake off the last chill from the stargate. She had just 'gated in from Earth, where she had just spent a week of down-time while her ship, the _U.N.E.S Prometheus_, was in the dock undergoing maintenance and repairs. Lex had been stationed aboard the _Prometheus_ as an F-302 _Interceptor_ pilot for about nine months now and she'd be quite sad when the old girl got decommissioned.

Lex looked up in delight as a BC-303 flew overhead, heading towards the dock. She loved the beautiful, sleek ships and had spent hours staring at them in dock when she was a kid – she still did if she ever needed to think something over.

The Alpha Site, where Lex was, was filled with personnel from all over the Earth, as well as a few from other planets. The Alpha Site had been the first U.N.E base after the Stargate Programme had been made public. U.N.E stood for the United Nations of Earth, a governmental body that had grown from the old United Nations around 25 years ago, when the world had discovered they were not as alone in the Universe as they had imagined.

The U.N.E now also commanded a space-faring fleet designed to protect the Earth and her allies, along with any indefensible colony of humans on other planet. The Fleet had been nicknamed the Tau'ri Fleet by some of their allies and the name had stuck, because one of their missions was to protect all the Tau'ri, no matter the planet. Lex found that comforting and quite exciting to be one of people helping shape both her planet's future and the future of the Universe itself.

The way the U.N.E Fleet operated at the moment, for all combat personnel at least, was to recruit from all the major militaries of Earth, as well as those from other planets who demonstrated aptitude and interest. Lex liked the way everyone had a chance to apply, no matter what country they were from and that positions were judged on skill, not race. The Earth was finally putting the last of its racial discrimination behind it and becoming a more peaceful society.

Lex had been a member of the USAF (United States Air Force) – although, technically, she was still was considered one – before she had joined the U.N.E Fleet and carried a US flag patch above the U.N.E Fleet logo on her olive green uniform to indicate her nationality. That was the other thing that Lex loved about the multicultural nature of the Fleet – the accents. She loved to try and pick what they were before checking the flag patch on the uniform.

Entering the mess hall, Lex slipped off her sunglasses and blinked as her eyes adjusted to the relatively dim light inside the building. As she looked around at the many groups of people sitting around the tables, Lex listened to the loud hum of conversation in various different languages all around her and smiled. The noise rose and fell all around her, occasionally punctuated by a loud bark of laughter or a voice raised in excitement or anger, was as full of life as the people making it Lex felt a familiar sense of contentment as she stood there. Somehow, being part of the Fleet felt as much of a home as the one she had grown up in.

"Lex!" someone called out from Lex's right, jolting her out of her thoughts.

"Viper!" another voice greeted.

Her smiled turning into a grin, Lex turned and walked over to a group of her fellow pilots and personnel from the _Prometheus_, who also happened to be her good friends. "Hey, guys." She said, slipping into an empty seat.

"Coffee?" Dr. Lucas Jackson offered with a grin, winking one of his blue eyes at her.

Lucas was the only son of Dr. Daniel Jackson and Dr. Fraiser-Jackson and had taken after his mother by becoming a medical doctor in the USAF – he currently held the rank of Captain, just like her. He had grown up side by side with Lex, and sometimes she felt that he was as much of an older brother as he was an old friend. He had also inherited his father's coffee obsession and looks, which meant there was always a pot of decent (but sometimes kidnapped) coffee nearby.

"Thanks." Lex smiled back, grabbing an empty mug and holding it out.

"So?" Lieutenant Charles "Ice" Boone, originally from the British RAF (Royal Air Force) leant forward and asked in his almost formal-sounding British accent. "How does it feel?"

Technically, Ice held the rank of Flight Lieutenant, but there had been an effort to try and standardise the ranking system of all military personnel. As a result, the Flight Lieutenant rank he had held in the RAF was converted to a first grade Lieutenant. This had happened to everyone when they had joined the Fleet. It was supposed to make things easier and it did for the most part.

Lex raised an eyebrow. "How does what feel?" she asked her wingman.

"Serving under you father?" Ice clarified.

"Don't you mean serving under _both_ of my parents, along with Uncle Daniel, Aunt Janet, Uncle Teal'c and his wife, Aunt Ishta who are all pretty much considered my family even though we aren't related by blood?" Lex shot back, a little sarcastically.

Ice grinned, his grey eyes twinkling in amusement. "Oh, yes. Sorry."

Lex groaned. "I don't know yet."

"Tell me about it." Lucas muttered. "And did I tell you that Althea was coming to?" he turned to Lex as he said the last.

Dr. Althea Jackson was Lucas' younger sister and had taken after her father, inheriting his passion for ancient cultures, even though she looked just like her mother in appearance. She had just finished her PhD in Linguistics and already had a degree in Archaeology.

Lex laughed wryly. "If JC wasn't stuck on Atlantis, it would be just like a family holiday!" she said.

JC was Lex's older brother, Dr. Jonathan Carter O'Neill. He was an astrophysicist just like their mother and was currently stationed on Atlantis, the Ancient city the SGC had discovered around 25 years ago, under General John Sheppard and his wife Dr. Elizabeth Weir.

Lucas sighed. "I know just what you mean." He said. "And I had thought it would be bad when you were stationed aboard nine months ago."

Lex rolled her eyes at him. "Yeah, sure." She said. "You were just happy to have a friend on board. Which you wouldn't have such a problem with if you didn't keep sticking large needles into people!"

"Biggest damn needles I've ever seen!" Lieutenant Billy "Tex" Wilson, a fellow USAF officer, said in his deep Texas drawl.

"Oui." Captain Marguerite "Nightmare" Devereux agreed in her musical French accent.

"Hey, it could be worse, mate." Captain Owen "Tank" Mitchell, a RAAF pilot (Royal Australian Air Force), said. "He could be sticking more than needles into us."

"Ja." Lieutenant Bastien "Torch" Schultz agreed in his German accent, with a laugh.

Sharing a good-natured laugh with everyone at the table, Lex looked around for her missing friends. "Where's Sasha and Lan?" she asked.

Sasha was the nickname of their Russian friend, Lieutenant Aleksandr "Merlin" Koslov and Lan was Lieutenant Lan "Rocket" Yao, or Yao Lan to put it in proper Chinese order with the family name first. Both were also fellow pilots stationed aboard the _Prometheus_.

"They're already aboard with the Skipper." Tex told me.

'The Skipper' was the nickname for Commander Mark "Skipper" Gale, Lex's squadron commander and CAG, or Commander of the Air Group. He was originally from the US Navy, which had caused him to be teased a little in the past. But he was a fair CAG and always seemed to have as many friendly comments for his pilots as reprimands.

"Which is where we should be." Ice commented, looking at his watch.

Everyone looked down at their watches, and noticing the time, got up in a flurry of activity. As everyone scrambled for the docks, Lucas fell into step beside Lex. "This is going to be an interesting six months." He said.

"You can say that again." Lex agreed, with a wry grin.

Looking up at the looming docks above them and the _Prometheus_ beside them, Lex realised that this was not going to be a usual command. Instead of just having a General or Colonel to deal with and the usual pressures of duty, she would also have to deal with her family. _This is definitely going to be an interesting trip_, she reflected.

To Be Continued…


	2. Three Months Later

Author's Note: Okay, its official. I can't proof read. I don't know how many times I went over the last chapter, but I still forgot to fix up a little mistake. The last tour of duty by the _Prometheus_ is supposed to be **six** months long, not one month. I should have posted the corrected chapter. Sorry guys! I'll try and do better in the future.

I also changed the 'X' part of the ships numbers after it was pointed out that they would not be experimental ships anymore. Thanks for that!

Thanks for all the reviews! Hopefully the story will live up to your expectations!

Cheeky.

* * *

The Thirteenth Colony:

By cheeky-chaos

**Three Months Later:**

Lex yawned tiredly as she staggered out of her bunk. Thankfully, it was a bottom bunk and she didn't fall flat on her face. Groaning softly as she dragged herself to her feet, after far too little sleep in her opinion, Lex listened to the sounds of the other pilots in her squadron stirring. If she hurried, she could probably grab a hot shower before the others got up.

As she staggered to her locker to grab her stuff, Lex marvelled at the speed at which the last three months had flown by. Having her family aboard had been a lot different than she had imagined. It reminded Lex of the family get togethers that happened every now and then, back in Colorado Springs – there was always at least one debate taking place between her family members and more often than not there was betting or sarcastic comments involved as well.

Lex smiled and shook her head at the memories. She loved her parents and extended family more than anything, but it still proved embarrassing when you were on a first-name basis (although, only in private) with most of the ranking crew members. And they always knew what you were up to.

"Viper, is that you?" Ice asked groggily, sticking his tousled blonde head over the edge of his top bunk.

"Last time I checked." Lex replied, noting she had an hour until her squadron briefing and an hour and a half until their rotation started – of which she had first patrol, if she remembered the roster right.

"Save me a shower, will you?" Ice asked.

"No way!" Lex laughed. "You know it's every man for himself when it comes to showers!"

"Damn straight!" Billy or "Tex" as he was more commonly known called, heading for his locker to grab his stuff too. "You're on your own, Charlie!"

Lex smiled at the good natured bantering between her two friends. Strangely enough, the two had been mortal enemies when first introduced at the U.N.E Academy, as Ice had once been a stickler for procedure and Billy preferred a more laid back approach. Billy had resorted to shortening Charles to Charlie to try and annoy Ice – and it had worked until Ice relaxed and mellowed out a bit. Ever since then they had been firm friends.

Slipping into the bathroom on the other side of the bunkroom, Lex grabbed a shower and firmly locked the stall door behind her. She didn't mind sharing her bathroom with the guys, even though they could be a little gross sometimes, but she had learnt not to encourage trouble. And one of those precautions was locking any doors firmly that you wanted to stay locked.

Not that there weren't other female pilots, mind you. Marguerite and Lan were examples. The boys just outnumbered them. Although, thanks to the new adventure of space flight, at least a third of the active pilots were female, with the numbers of female recruits were growing every year.

Taking a quick, but enjoyably hot, shower, Lex was soon dressed in her olive green flight suit and heading towards the commissary for a cup of coffee and something to eat. Her flight suit went over her standard pants and T-shirt and she wore her boots and a pair of fingerless gloves. Just before the rotation started, Lex would strap on the standard-issue Berretta pistol and zat gun as well as her detachable harness that would secure her into the _Interceptor_ cockpit. She would also grab her helmet and breathing mask, which looked almost exactly like the ones she used back in the USAF.

Lex yawned again as she entered the commissary and she immediately sought a cup of coffee. Having poured herself a cup, she turned and almost bumped into Lucas. "Sorry." He muttered, looking completely exhausted.

"Just got off-duty?" Lex asked.

"Yeah." Lucas answered, rubbing a hand wearily over his face as he poured himself a cup of coffee. "But I'm on-call for the next couple of hours."

Lex raised her eyebrows in surprise as she sipped her hot coffee. "Why the long hours?" she asked.

"Food poisoning." Lucas explained. "One of the nurses received some cookies from her mother-in-law in the last mail package and she shared them around. Half the medical staff spent last night throwing up."

"Wonderful mother-in-law." Lex remarked dryly.

Lucas smiled softly. "As far as I can tell, it wasn't intentional poisoning." He said.

"Good to know." Lex replied. "But I'll still be staying away from cookies for a while."

Glancing at her watch, Lex noticed the time. She had about ten minutes before her briefing started. "Sorry." She told Lucas. "But I have to go. Briefing."

Lucas nodded tiredly. "I'm not very good company at the moment, anyway."

"When have you ever been?" Lex teased as she grabbed another cup of coffee and snagged an apple on the way out the door.

Laughing at Lucas' grumbling response, Lex made her way to the port side launch bay and the briefing rooms just above them. To the side of the large, theatre-like room, were a long series of windows, showing the launch bay and hanger below. Lex smiled as she saw the usual chaos, with the mechanical crew running around and keeping everything in working order and readying the _Interceptor's_ for her squadron.

Lex took a large bite of her apple and turned to grab a seat next to Sasha, or Lieutenant Aleksandr "Merlin" Koslov, who was sitting quietly in the second row from the front. "Morning." He greeted in his thick Russian accent when she sat down.

"Morning, Sasha." Lex replied. "Been up long?"

"Da." Sasha nodded. "I was in the gym earlier."

Lex nodded and smiled. Sasha was a firm believer in keeping healthy, and along with religiously working out every day, he also did not believe in drinking coffee or eating chocolate. Two things that Lex was sure made up most of her diet. Lex shot her companion a side-long glance as she sipped her second cup of coffee of the day. He was watching her with an amused smile.

"I know, I know." Lex muttered. "This stuff will kill me."

Sasha's usually serious face broke into a wide grin at Lex's grumble and softened his angular features. "At least you are eating fruit this morning." He commented, raising a dark eyebrow.

"I eat fruit!" Lex protested.

"So I am seeing." Sasha replied.

Lex narrowed her eyes, but was interrupted before she could let out another protest by Ice and Tex entering the room. Both of them were arguing merrily about the merits of soccer versus football, which happened at least once a week. The pair was followed by Yao Lan, otherwise known as "Rocket", and Bastien or "Torch", who seemed to be nursing a very strong cup of coffee. He wasn't much of a morning person.

The group all grabbed a seat and Lex laughed as Bastien grabbed the seat next to her and slumped as far down as he could. "Rough morning there, Torch?" she teased.

Bastien rolled his eyes towards her, as if the small movement was all he had energy for. "Ja." He replied. "Always is."

Commander Mark Gale, or Skipper as he was known, walked into the room at that moment, silencing the chatter that had filled the room. Owen "Tank" Mitchell and Marguerite "Nightmare" Devereux snuck in behind him.

"Sorry, mate." Owen said.

The Skipper just smiled as the pair quickly took their seats. "So how's everyone this morning?" he asked.

"Breathing." Marguerite said. "And vertical."

The Skipper chuckled. "And, how are you Bastien?"

"Alive." Bastien growled, sinking lower into his chair and sipping his coffee.

Skipper chuckled again, his green eyes twinkling in amusement. "Alright then, down to business." He said. "We've gotten some reports of Goa'uld activity in the area so I want you to all be on your guard today on patrol. On the up side, there have been no reports of Wraith activity in this sector for at least two months, so they shouldn't be a problem."

Lex nodded as she listened to the Skipper talk. It sounded like a pretty standard patrol to her. Since the first SGC mission, 30 years ago, the human race had been collecting both intergalactic friends and enemies. Thankfully the war that they had been fighting to preserve the freedom of all humans, or Tau'ri as they were being called more and more each day, was coming to an end. There were still Goa'uld and Wraith out there, wanting to kill or enslave them, but they were becoming fewer and fewer as time went on.

"Alright, patrol groups for today." Skipper finished up by saying. "Viper and Ice, you're taking the first scouting patrol with me. Tank, you, Rocket and Torch will take second scouting patrol and Nightmare, you'll take third with Merlin and Tex. When you're not on scouting patrol, I want you to stick close to the _Prometheus_. If there are any Goa'uld out there, I don't want you too far away."

There was a chorus of "Yes, sir!" and everyone filed out of the briefing room and down to the hanger bay, where nine _Interceptor's_ stood waiting and gleaming under the lights. Lex grinned as she stared up at her sleek fighter. It gave her a thrill every time she saw her name stencilled in black on the side. Going to her flight locker, she slipped on her harness, along with her standard-issue zat gun and Berretta. Grabbing her helmet, she jogged to her fighter as the call came in that the previous rotation had just come in the starboard hanger.

Climbing up into the cockpit, Lex strapped herself in and slipped on her helmet. She flipped the power switches on the console in front of her, just as the Skipper's voice came over the comms. "Good flying guys."

"Always, sir." Lex replied.

Carefully, she nudged her fighter to the open hanger doors. They were protected by a force-field, originally reverse-engineered Goa'uld technology, so the air inside the ship stayed in but the fighter's could pass through due to a little electronic tag they all carried. It was a clever system and Lex admired it.

"Flight control, this is Skipper. Are we cleared for take off?" the CAG's voice crackled over the comms.

"Skipper, this is flight control. You are cleared." Came the answer. "Repeat: you are cleared for port side take off."

Lex grinned as she followed her squadron commander into the deep of space beyond the hanger. It didn't matter that she was only going on patrol, this is what she had been born to do and she loved it.

* * *

General Jack O'Neill watched the F-302 _Interceptor's_ zoom out into space from the port side of the ship and grinned. He was sitting in the command chair on the _Prometheus'_ bridge and watched as the fighters moved into their respective positions. A part of him, the part that had never stopped being an USAF pilot wished he was with them, but mostly he just admired them. Jack was having too much fun commanding the _Prometheus_.

Smiling, Jack listened to the comm. chatter of the pilots that was broadcast through the bridge, before turning to his left and glancing at his wife. Sam was manning the console next to him as acting Communications Officer, and wore a headset as a result. Usually, this was a position given to a military officer, but having practically built this entire ship herself, Jack doubted anyone could do the job better than Sam. Besides, she had once been a military officer too. On his other side was the _Prometheus'_ pilot, Captain Sam Moretti.

"So, how long before we reach Atlantis?" Jack asked.

"About two hours at our current speed, sir." Moretti replied.

"Any more reports of Wraith activity in the area around Atlantis?"

This time it was Sam who answered. "No, General." She said. "Nothing since the BC-303 _Daedalus_ reported their encounter."

Jack nodded. "We'll do a sweep of the area anyway, to make sure." He said. "Are we in video-link range yet?"

"Yes, we are." Sam told her husband, barely resisting the urge to add 'sir' onto the end of her response. It may have been many years since she had been a USAF officer, but some habits were hard to break.

Sam connected the video-link between the _Prometheus_ and the city of Atlantis. "Atlantis, this is General Jack O'Neill of the _U.N.E.S Prometheus_." Jack identified himself.

The smiling face of Peter Grodin filled the screen. "Good morning, General." Grodin greeted warmly in his English accent. "What can I do for you?"

"Good morning, Grodin." Jack replied. "I was wondering if I could speak with General Sheppard."

Grodin nodded. "Of course." He answered. "I'll just transfer you over."

"Thanks." Jack said. The video-link network between U.N.E bases and ships still amazed him. He still remembered a time when things like this only appeared on TV or in the movies.

The picture changed, revealing a smiling General John Sheppard. He hadn't changed much over the years from the cocky pilot Jack had once known, except for the strands of grey now threaded through his hair and the extra lines around his eyes and mouth.

"Hey, John." Jack greeted his friend warmly.

"Jack." John replied just as warmly, a smile on his face. "So, what can I do for you?"

"I just called to see if there were any updates on the Wraith situation over there."

John shook his head. "We haven't seen or heard form them in about a week." He replied. "But I've got a feeling they're still in the area."

"Me, too." Jack agreed. "We should be there in about two hours and we'll run a sweep through the area. If they're out there, we'll find them. The _Prometheus_ will also be sticking around until the _Daedalus_ is back on her feet."

"Thanks, Jack." John said. "It shouldn't be long. We received the part and supplies from the SGC through the 'gate a few days ago and the repairs are almost complete."

"Good to hear." Jack replied, before being interrupted by a warning call from the scanners as everything lit up like a Christmas tree.

"A Ha'tak class mother-ship just exited hyperspace on our starboard side, sir!" Captain Elijah Woodward, on of the _Prometheus'_ tactical officers, called from his console behind Jack.

Jack swore softly. "We'll have to finish this later." He told John.

Concern flickered through John's hazel gaze at the sound of enemy contact, but all he said was, "See you soon, Jack."

Cutting the connection quickly, Jack turned to Moretti. "Evasive manoeuvres." He ordered. The he turned to Sam. "Send a coded message to the SGC detailing our position and the attack."

"The mother-ship just released a squadron of Gliders, sir!" Woodward called.

"Scramble the _Interceptors_ to meet them." Jack ordered. "Any idea who it is?"

"Not yet." Sam answered. "They're transmitting a message." She added a few seconds later.

"What do they want?" Jack snapped as the mother-ship opened fire on the _Prometheus_. Outside, the _Interceptors_ were just engaging the squadron of Gliders and the comm. chatter increased as orders flew back and forth.

"Return fire!" Jack ordered the tactical officers sitting behind him, never removing his eyes from the action he watched through the main windows. "And put a squadron on standby!"

"Yes, sir!" Lieutenant Lauren Petrovsky, the _Prometheus'_ second tactical officer replied smartly.

"It's Ba'al." Sam said, answering Jack's previous question. "He's demanding our immediate surrender."

"Tell him to kiss my ass." Jack snapped. "Target his shield generators, Lieutenant!"

"Yes, sir!" Petrovsky replied.

Jack watched in grim satisfaction as the _Prometheus_ zoomed around the mother-ship, dodging her attacks. The _Interceptors_ were also managing well, as they kept the Gliders from launching too many attacks at the _Prometheus_, leaving her free to concentrate on the mother-ship.

"We've got another problem, sir!" Woodward said. "Another Ha'tak mother-ship just exited hyperspace and released another squadron of Gliders!"

Jack swore again. "Any other 303's close enough to help?" Jack asked Sam.

"The closest one's an hour out." Sam replied grimly.

"The shield generator's down, sir!" Petrovsky called.

Making a split-second decision Jack began to issue orders. "Bring her down!" he told Petrovsky. "Send an update to the SGC! Then order the _Interceptors_ back to the ship and prepare to make a hyperspace jump!"

The first mother-ship exploded in a large ball of flame as the _Prometheus'_ weapons surged through the downed shield and hit the generators. The ship shuddered a little as the shockwave hit, but it wasn't enough to do any damage as they were to far away.

Seconds later, a series of large explosions hit the _Prometheus_ from the second Ha'tak, causing the ship to buck and heave. "Shields decreasing in power, sir!" Woodward snapped.

"What the hell was that?" Jack growled.

"Some sort of high powered energy weapon, sir!" Woodward answered. "I haven't seen anything that powerful before."

Not needing to be told, Sam included the information into her coded report and continued to issue orders to the pilots. "Skipper, this is _Prometheus_." She said. "Return to the ship in preparation for a hyperspace jump."

"Sir, there's not enough time!" Woodward called as several more blasts hit the _Prometheus_. "One more direct hit and the shields will fail!"

"Alright, transmit the coordinates to the _Interceptors_!" Jack ordered. "Then get us out of here!"

The hyperspace engine made its familiar whine as it was engaged and Jack felt the familiar sensation of being slammed back into his seat as the _Prometheus_ jumped away from the attack. "Report!" he snapped as soon as the colourful hyperspace bubble disappeared, leaving the more common view of star-speckled space.

"All-clear, sir." Woodward said, his tone more normal now that there was no one attacking the ship. "There are no signs of any enemies in the area."

"Shields?" Jack asked.

"Charging as we speak, sir." Petrovsky answered.

Jack watched as bright flashes just in front of the _Prometheus_ indicated the arrival of the squadron of _Interceptors_. Due to the smaller size of the hyperspace drives aboard the fighters, the pilots had had to make more than one jump to arrive at the rendezvous. Slipping on a headset, Jack pushed a button to talk directly with Commander Gale.

"Skipper, this is _Prometheus_." He said. "Are you alright?"

"So far, sir, yes." Skipper replied. "The squadron sustained only minor damage. However, three pilots have yet to report in."

"Who are we missing?"

"Viper, Ice and Tex, sir." Skipper answered.

"Are you able to return to parol?" Jack asked.

"Yes, sir." Skipper replied.

"Then do so. _Prometheus_ out." Jack took off the headset, before turning to Sam. "Try them on their radios and release the other squadron from standby."

Jack then looked at Moretti. "Head for Atlantis." He ordered. "How far out are we?"

"Just under an hour, sir, at normal speed." Moretti replied.

"Good." Jack nodded. "Any luck, yet?"

"Ice and Tex are reporting that their hyperspace engines are off-line, but otherwise fine." Sam answered. "Apparently they, along with Viper, were caught in a blast as they prepared to make a jump."

"Tell them to head for Atlantis." He told her. "Any response from Viper?"

A look of worry crossed Sam's face. "Not yet."

Jack nodded, trying not to let his worry show on his face, but it was hard. He had always known it would be a challenge to have his daughter flying under him, but he would never bias his treatment of her – although it was very difficult not to order a large scale to find her at this moment. "She'll be fine." He told his wife in a low voice.

"I know." Sam replied softly, but the worry in her eyes betrayed her concern. "I know."

* * *

Lex felt the slam of the hyperspace engines reverberate through her fighter at the same second a high-powered blast from the remaining mother-ship hit her. The _Interceptor_ bucked and shuddered, causing Lex to swear. "This is not good!" she muttered.

Thankfully, the jump worked and seconds later Lex saw clear space in front of her as the hyperspace bubble disappeared. Lex sighed in relief, a second before the controls in front of her gave off a spark and shut down. "Great." She grumbled.

Slowly, the fighter continued to turn as Lex had managed to fire one of the thrusters before the power had shut down. Concentrating on the problem at hand, Lex ignored the view and tried to re-boot the power. Nothing happened. "Come on, baby." She coaxed, but the power refused to re-boot.

Lex reached for the comm. and snarled when she realised it wasn't working either. She was dead in space. Suppressing the flutter of alarm in her stomach, she tried yet again to get the systems of her fighter online. Then she noticed something out of the corner of her eye and looked up, before freezing in surprise.

"Well, Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore!" Lex muttered, quoting from her father's favourite film as she stared in shock at the scene in front of her.

A large ship flew silently through space right in front of her, the design unlike anything like she had ever seen before. The ship was massive, probably bigger than the _Prometheus_, if only a little and carried a lot of battle scars along her hull. Behind her, what looked like a ragtag fleet, full of mismatched ships, followed.

Still shocked at her surprise meeting, but unable to do anything apart from drift helplessly, Lex watched as several fighters were launched from the ship. Unhooking her mask to uncover her face, Lex watched the fighters' cautious approach. Smiling weakly, Lex raised her hand and waved at the nearest pilot. "Well, they're human." She muttered when she saw the pilots.

As if mistaking her wave for something else, the ships drew back and moved into an unmistakable attack formation. "But maybe not so friendly." Lex amended as a feeling of dread filled her gut.

Then two words caught her attention and Lex realised she was looking at a military ship. The _Battlestar Galactica_.

To Be Continued…


	3. The Battlestar Galactica

Author's Note: Hey guys, it was pointed out to me that I had gotten some of the ranks wrong for the RAF and RAAF, so I've been back to try and change them, so apologies about that. The way I see it is that there was an effort to standardise all ranks (and to avoid further confusion), so that all personnel were transferred to one system of ranks. I hope that makes sense.

Cheeky.

* * *

The Thirteenth Colony:

Chapter Two:

By cheeky-chaos

"DRADIS contact, sir." Lieutenant Felix Gaeta called out from his position in _Galactica's_ CIC.

"Cylon?" Colonel Saul Tigh, _Galactica's_ XO and acting-Commander, snapped.

Three weeks ago, the _Galactica's_ commanding officer, Commander William Adama, had been shot twice in the chest and was still in a coma in critical condition. His attacker, Lieutenant Sharon "Boomer" Valerii, had been revealed as a Cylon sleeper agent and had hung herself in the brig two days later.

Since then, Colonel Tigh had been trying to hold the ragtag fleet of surviving humanity together. He had barely managed it, as the Commander's shooting had been a blow to everyone and President Laura Roslin was becoming increasingly obsessed with finding Earth, no matter the cost.

Every morning, Colonel Tigh prayed to the Gods for his old friend's recovery. Despite giving up drinking, Tigh feared he wasn't half as good a leader for the fleet as the Commander was. Adama would also know what to do about Dr. Gaius Baltar, who had collapsed on Kobol and had yet to wake up. He, too, seemed to be in a coma.

"No, sir." Gaeta replied, sounding a little bewildered. "It's an unknown ship."

"Unknown?"

"The database doesn't recognise it, sir." Gaeta answered, before adding. "The ship doesn't seem to be moving."

"Send a few Vipers to check it out." Tigh ordered.

"Aye, sir." Petty Officer Anastasia "Dee" Dualla, _Galactica's_ Communications Officer, answered.

Tigh watched as three Vipers were launched and cautiously approached the unknown ship, which almost seemed to be drifting. Confused by the actions of the ship, Tigh waited for the first pilot's report. "What is it waiting for?" he muttered to himself.

"Galactica – Hot Dog." Lieutenant Brendan "Hot Dog" Constanza's voice crackled over the comm. "I've never seen anything like it before."

"Hot Dog – Galactica. Can you give us a description?" Dee asked the pilot.

"I don't know." Hot Dog said. "It looks similar to a Raider, but it's not. And there's a pilot inside. What are our orders?"

"Tell him that until we know who they are and where they come from, the unknown ship is to be treated with the upmost caution." Tigh ordered.

"Aye, sir." Dee replied and relayed the order.

As she did that, Tigh took a moment to think. Between the destruction of the Colonies and their flight from the Cylons, Tigh hadn't really thought about anything but protecting the fleet from the next attack. He had never considered the possibility of anyone or anything else. As a result, he was definitely suspicious and inclined to think of this as a new method of deception by the Cylons, but he wasn't sure.

"Try and establish radio contact." Tigh ordered Dee.

If the ship had a pilot, then it was possible it wasn't a Cylon. Of course, it could also be another humanoid Cylon trying to destroy the fleet as well. Tigh sighed. Command was always hard, but when the fate of humanity hung on every decision, the task became almost impossible.

"Unknown ship, this is the _Battlestar Galactica_. Please respond." Dee repeated her message as she scrolled through the different frequencies.

A second later, she turned back to Tigh. "There's no response, sir." She said.

"Get Hot Dog to try visual communication." Tigh ordered.

Dee relayed his order to Hot Dog and the pilot replied a minute later. "We've established visual communication with the pilot." He said. "But she seems to be having trouble understanding our signals."

"She?" Tigh barked, and Dee asked for clarification.

"She's a female pilot." Hot Dog explained. "Her name is Captain Alexandra O'Neill. It was written on the side of her fighter."

At this point, Tigh indicated for Dee to patch him directly through to Hot Dog and he picked up a handset. "Have you managed to ascertain anything else?" he asked.

"Not yet, sir." Hot Dog replied. "Hang on a moment…sir…she appears to be writing something."

"Writing something?" Tigh asked.

"Yes, sir." Hot Dog confirmed. "On her window, with some sort of red substance. It appears to be the words: Dead in the water."

Colonel Tigh narrowed his eyes in thought. Was this a Cylon trick or was it genuine?

"She's writing something else now, sir." Hot Dog added. "Please help."

Making a decision about what to do, Tigh began to issue orders. "Tow her aboard, Hot Dog." He said. "Be careful. I'm sending a team of Marines to meet you."

Putting down the handset, Tigh turned to Lieutenant Gaeta. "Send a team of Marines to the hanger." He ordered. "Brief them of the situation. I'll meet them there."

"Aye, sir." Gaeta replied as Colonel Tigh left the CIC.

* * *

Lex sighed in relief when the pilots finally understood her message. Thankfully, these humans appeared to speak English. It had been pure luck when Lex had found an old tube of red lipstick in her pocket to scrawl her message, although she couldn't remember how it got there – probably one of Marguerite's that she had found and forgotten to return.

She watched the pilots begin the complicated manoeuvre of arranging a tow for a moment, long enough to recognise what they were doing and that they had done it before. Then, carefully, she unhooked her harness and twisted in her seat, reaching behind it for the standard survival pack each _Interceptor_ was equipped with.

The space behind her seat had once been another seat for a secondary pilot, but the F-302's had developed since the original and no longer needed two pilots to fly it. However, the second seat had been kept, although a lot smaller and more squashed than before, as it provided space to store items and sometimes even to pick up stranded pilot or ferry passengers.

After a moment of rummaging, Lex found what she was looking for – her back up radio. Sitting back down in her seat, Lex felt the soft jolt as her ship began to move. Knowing she only had a few minutes before the questions began, Lex quickly switched on the power and prepared to send her message back to the SGC and any BC-303's in the area.

Setting it to the broad-band frequency to maximise those that would hear it, Lex began her message. "This is Captain Alexandra O'Neill of the Tau'ri Fleet, currently stationed aboard the _U.N.E.S Prometheus_." She said. "I have lost all power in my F-302 _Interceptor_ following a Goa'uld attack and do not know my exact position. I have been found by what looks like a military vessel full of humans and…"

Before Lex could add anymore, the radio gave a beep and a crackle, then died. Lex swore, but couldn't seem to turn it back on no matter what she tried. Since she didn't have time to repair it, she would have to hope the message she had managed to get out was enough – at least until he could find another way to contact the Fleet.

Growling in frustration, Lex tossed the radio behind her and turned to the controls of her fighter. On the off chance something might happen, she flicked the power switches again hoping for a sign of life, but there was nothing. She sighed and, resigned to the fact she wasn't going to be able to do anything about her situation, Lex turned to watch the Galactica grow larger and larger.

Before long, the tow fighters giving her a tow had set her down in what looked like a hanger after a trip down a sort of tunnel, which Lex thought could have been used as a launch of some type. Before Lex could do more than give a cursory glance at the chaotic hanger bay that reminded her so much of her own, a troop of armed men in black approached her fighter, weapons drawn and pointed at her.

"Okay." Lex muttered. "This isn't quite what I expected."

Raising her hands to where the men could see them, Lex warily watched as two of the men walked forward and opened the cockpit after a bit of fumbling. "Keep your hands where I can see them!" the leader of the group shouted.

Around her, Lex noticed the other three pilots were climbing out of their fighters and watching the action unfold very curiously, as was the deck crew. A tall, bald man in a dark blue uniform and with the unmistakable air of command about him walked up to her. Lex didn't miss his suspicious gaze on her or the weapon in his hand.

"Who are you?" he snapped at her.

"My name is Captain Alexandra O'Neill of the Tau'ri Fleet." Lex replied levelly, not wanting to do anything that might provoke the situation. "My fighter was disabled during a fight and I was knocked off-course."

The man continued to look at Lex with narrowed eyes. "Stand up slowly." He ordered. "And take off your helmet."

Following the barked order, Lex slowly stood up and took off her helmet, taking care to keep her movements visible and painstakingly slow. "Can I ask who you are?" she asked once she had finished.

"Drop the helmet and carefully step out of the cockpit." The man ordered, ignoring her question.

Once again Lex followed his order with painstaking slowness. Once she was out of her _Interceptor_ and a safe distance away, the man shot a look at two of the armed men. "Search it." He snapped.

"Aye, sir." One of the men said smartly, before both of the men headed for her ship.

Frowning, Lex continued to eye the man issuing all the orders. She sincerely hoped he was not the commander of the _Battlestar_, because he was going to be difficult to talk to. "Please." Lex tried again. "Who are you?"

"You don't know?" the man barked, eyes narrowing even further.

"No." Lex replied, getting annoyed. "I have no idea who you are. That's why I asked."

Once again, the man ignored her question. "Why are you here?" he barked.

"I told you." Lex said, annoyance creeping into her tone. "My ship was knocked off-course after a fight."

"How do we know you're not a Cylon agent?" the man said.

"A sy-what?" Lex asked, not recognising the word.

"A Cylon agent." The man repeated coldly.

Lex shook her head. "I'm not sure what a Cylon is, but I can assure you, I'm not one of them. I'm an F-302 _Interceptor _pilot with the Tau'ri Fleet."

"Is that the _Interceptor_?" the man snapped, indicating the fighter Lex had just climbed out of.

"Yes." Lex answered.

The man scanned the ship. "You couldn't have travelled far in a ship that size." He said.

Before Lex could reply to the statement, which sounded more like an accusation to her, the armed men who had been searching her cockpit walked over her interrogator and handed him several objects. From the looks of the items, Lex figured they were her backup radio, her locator beacon and the standard set of explosives all fighters carried. "We found these, Colonel." One of the men stated.

Lex winced. This was not going to make these humans any friendlier towards her. "I can explain…" she began, but the Colonel cut her off.

"Throw her in the brig." He snapped.

Before she could protest, Lex was efficiently stripped of her weapons, harness and flight suit before being frog-marched down a number of metal corridors, into a small room and thrown into a barred cell. "Wait a minute!" she snapped as the men who had escorted her there turned and left the room.

Knowing the men wouldn't have gone far, in order to stand guard, Lex continued to yell. "You can't lock me up! I need to get back to my ship!"

The men didn't reply, but Lex hadn't really expected them to. Sighing, she turned to survey her cell. The only thing the cage contained was a lumpy looking bed with a blanket. To the left was another cell and two more appeared to be positioned on the other side of the room. "Where's a yellow brick road when you need one?" Lex snapped at the empty room. "I knew it wasn't a good idea to get up this morning!"

Growling with annoyance and a sliver of fear that threatened to blossom into panic, Lex began to pace. "I don't even know where I am!" she grumbled darkly. "Or who's got me! That stupid Colonel didn't even tell me his name!"

"Do you always talk to yourself like that?" a quiet voice asked from somewhere close by.

Spinning abruptly towards the sound, Lex realised she might not be as alone as she had thought. Squinting her eyes at the shadows of the cell next to her, Lex made out the figure of a man lying on the bed. As she glared at him, the man got up and walked forward into the light.

The man was young, not much older than Lex herself and had short brown hair and piercing blue eyes that were staring at her in curiosity and amusement. He seemed to be wearing a similar uniform to the others, although only the dark blue pants and boots of it. Muscular arms were revealed by the tanks he was wearing and dogtags glittered around his neck – although they seemed to be hexagonal in shape as opposed to the rectangular version Lex was familiar with.

"I didn't realise there was anyone else to talk to." Lex answered his question. "Unless of course, you're going to refuse to tell me your name too?"

The man walked to the bars that separated their two cells and stuck a hand through a gap. "Captain Lee Adama." He said. "And you are?"

Lex walked over and shook his hand. His grip was firm and his palm callused. "Captain Alexandra O'Neill," she replied. "But most people call me Lex."

"Well, Lex." Lee said, fixing her with an intense stare. "Care to tell me how you ended up aboard the _Galactica_?"

* * *

By the time Ice and Tex had made it to Atlantis and the appropriate repairs had been made to the _Interceptors_, Jack and the _Prometheus_ had completed a sweep of the surrounding area. They had sighted a Wraith hive ship a little way out from Atlantis, obviously damaged from its recent fight with the _Daedalus_, but it had fled at the first sight of the _Prometheus_. Jack had been reluctant to make chase, wanting to try and find some sign of his missing pilot – and daughter.

But there had been no further sign of Lex since her message had been received by both the _Prometheus_ and Atlantis, and Jack was beginning to worry. Who knew just who or what this military ship she had stumbled across was?

Sitting where he was in John Sheppard's office, he sighed and ran a hand over his face. "She's out there, somewhere, Jack." John said, having noticed the tension in his friend. "We'll find her."

Jack nodded. "I know." He said. "But I'm her father. I can't help but worry."

John smiled a little. "I've already got people searching the long range scans for any sign of her and Colonel Roberts says he'll start a search in the area she was last seen as soon as the _Daedalus_ is repaired."

"Thanks." Jack said. "But I can't ask him to do that. Not with the Wraith out there."

John sighed and shook his head. "I thought you'd say that, but you might want to reconsider." He said.

"Why?" Jack asked.

"I was going to bring it up anyway, when you got here, but I think it might be even more important now." John explained. "A few weeks ago, we were using the long range scans to help build a map of the 'gate network and we found something. The planet we managed to scan had evidence of a technologically advanced society, but we couldn't detect any sign of a stargate."

"How advanced?" Jack asked, sitting up straighter at the implications of the information.

"Advanced enough that we speculated on their ability for space travel." John said. "They are too advanced and too far out to be one of the Wraith culling sites and without a 'gate, they would have to have travelled there some other way. Considering what Alexandra saw, that might be the planet her strange ship came from."

"How far away is it?" Jack asked, already planning how soon he could leave.

"Three weeks normal speed." John replied. "But if someone wanted to get there in a hurry, you could probably get there in a jump or two, which wouldn't take more than an hour at most."

John smiled as he saw his friend's impatience to leave. "I've already downloaded all the information we have into the _Prometheus'_ database." He added. "Go."

"Thanks, John." Jack said, smiling gratefully. "I owe you one."

"No, you don't." John disagreed. "I'll keep an eye out from here and contact you if I find anything."

"Thank you." Jack said again, before he called for a transport.

Blinking a little at the sudden change to his orbiting ship, despite having done it many times in the past, Jack turned to find himself standing on the _Prometheus' _bridge. That Asgard technology was far better than the original Goa'uld ring transporters they had used before. Turning to the Captain Woodward, Jack ordered. "Plot a jump to the coordinates of the planet from the Atlantis scans."

"Yes, sir." Woodward replied.

"Have you found her?" Sam asked softly.

Jack turned to his wife. "I've found a lead." He told her. "There's a nearby planet with possible space travel ability. If she found a ship full of humans, there's a good chance that's where it came from."

"And where it could be going?" Sam added.

"Yeah." Jack said softly.

"Jump coordinates plotted, sir." Woodward called.

"Is everyone aboard?" Jack asked.

"Yes, sir." Woodward answered.

"Good. Send out the call to the crew." Jack said, his order directed at Sam this time.

Sam nodded and sent out the call. "Crew to be advised that hyperspace jump in progress. All hands brace."

As soon as the message went out, Jack indicated for Woodward to initiate the jump. Tensing in the command chair, Jack felt the sharp jolt as the hyperspace engines kicked in. Seconds later, Jack was looking out at empty space before him as he waited for an update. "Jump successful, sir." Woodward said. "Shall I plot coordinates for the next jump?"

"Yes." Jack confirmed.

The process was repeated and forty minutes after he had left Atlantis, Jack found himself staring at a green and blue planet remarkably like Earth. "Nice work, Captain." Jack said to Woodward.

"Thank you, sir." Woodward replied. "Scans show this planet does indeed have advanced technology with space-faring capability. There's just one problem, sir."

"What is it?" Jack asked, suddenly fearing the worst.

"The planet shows signs of massive destruction, sir." Woodward told him. "It looks like entire cities were destroyed. And judging by the amount of radiation in the atmosphere, sir, I'd say it was done by some sort of nuclear attack."

Jack swore under his breath. "Just what we need – to stumble across a war." Jack snapped. "Get me Doc Fraiser."

Using the ship's internal communications system, Sam patched him through to the infirmary. "General." Janet's voice greeted. "What can I do for you?"

"Can you look at the atmospheric data of the planet below us and see if it's safe to send a team down?" Jack asked.

"Yes, sir." Janet replied.

Jack knew that Janet would be as quick as she could in assessing the data from the ship's database and answering him, but every second that slipped by chaffed at Jack. His daughter was out there, possibly kidnapped by a group of hostile humans fighting some sort of war. For all he knew, the ship that had picked Lex up could have been the one to destroy this planet.

As if sensing her husband's growing tension and unease, Sam reached over and linked her hand with his. She squeezed reassuringly, hoping to give him a little comfort. Sam, too, was worried about her daughter. However, she took comfort in the fact that neither she nor Jack would rest until she was found.

"I'm picking up humans on the surface." Petrovsky said.

"How many?" Jack asked.

"I'm not sure, sir." She replied. "The radiation is affecting the scans, but it looks like twenty-five, maybe thirty, sir."

"Where are they?" Jack asked.

"In the mountains, sir." Petrovsky answered.

Frowning, Jack pulled up the information on the screen in front of him and looked over it. The humans were located in the more mountainous region above one of the ruined cities. The radiation levels were slightly lower there and there was probably more shelter. As he stared at the amount of destruction on the planet, Jack wondered exactly who had done this – to him, it seemed to have been done almost in anger.

"General?" Janet said over the internal comm. system.

"Go ahead, Doc." Jack told her.

"I believe the surface of the planet is safe for short periods of time, as long as you take a standard radiation inoculation." Janet said. "But I wouldn't recommend staying on the surface longer than three to four hours."

"Thanks, Doc." Jack said. "Prepare enough for two teams."

"Yes, sir."

Jack stood up and turned to Woodward. "Tell a team of Marines to meet me in the infirmary." He ordered. "As well as Dr. Jackson and Teal'c. I'll brief them when I get there. And tell Colonel Mackenzie she has command until I return."

"Yes, sir." Woodward said, a little confused at being given a job usually handled by the Communications Officer.

"General?" Sam asked, also a little confused.

"I'm making a trip to the surface." Jack said as he walked across the bridge, towards the door. Pausing slightly, he turned back to look at Sam. "Are you coming?" he asked her.

* * *

Half an hour later, eight people appeared on the surface of the planet below the orbiting _Prometheus_. Jack, Sam, Daniel and Teal'c were accompanied by a team of Marines and carefully spread out, their weapons at the ready. The planet was warm around them and eerily silent. Jack began to get a feeling of the horrible events that had happened here.

"Something bad happened here." Daniel said, echoing Jack's thoughts.

"Indeed." Teal'c agreed.

Looking around, Jack squared his shoulders and tried to shake off his feeling of dread. "Well, there's only one way to find out what happened and why." He said. "We need to find those survivors."

Nodding in agreement, Sam, Daniel and Teal'c followed Jack and the Marines towards the hills. None of them knew what they were going to find, but they did know one thing – they weren't going to like it.

To Be Continued…


	4. The Things That We Find

Author's Note: Hey guys, I did it again. Apologies, but as it was pointed out, Dee is only a Petty Officer and Gaeta's first name is Felix. Sorry about that! I should have fixed the errors in the previous chapters by now.

I also want to say a really BIG thank you to everyone for reviewing! It's really great to hear what you all think – especially all the compliments! Thanks as well for all the nitpicks about details. This is my first attempt at writing a BSG fanfic, so I'm not always getting the details right. Thanks for the tips and the patience! You guys rock!

Cheeky.

P.S. I'm not sure if the Battlestar Galactica characters sound quite right or not. Feedback would be greatly appreciated!

* * *

The Thirteenth Colony:

Chapter Three:

By cheeky-chaos

"Well, Lex." Lee said, fixing her with an intense stare. "Care to tell me how you ended up aboard the _Galactica_?"

Lex sighed. "Like I told your Colonel, my fighter was knocked off course during a battle and I found myself where you picked me up." She said. "I was dead in the water. That final blast must have knocked out my power systems."

Lee looked a little surprised at her answer. "You're not from the fleet?" he said. "And you're a pilot?"

"Yeah." Lex nodded. "I'm a pilot in the Tau'ri Fleet. I didn't actually know you existed until about 15 minutes ago."

There was a long moment of silence as Lee tried to absorb this new and surprising information. Lex watched the emotions flicker across his face. First, surprise and shock, which were quickly followed by confusion. Finally, a look of thoughtful concentration settled on Lee's features. "And you're human?" he asked.

"Yes." Lex answered.

There was another long pause as Lee studied Lex with an intense blue gaze. Lex resisted the urge squirm under all that focus and asked a question instead. "So, how'd you end up in the brig?"

"I disobeyed a direct order." Lee answered. "My commander was trying to remove the civilian head of government, our President, from power. I couldn't let that happen."

Smiling wryly, Lee continued. "I pulled a gun on the Colonel." He added.

"Well, I can understand that." Lex said. "If I had a gun, I'd like to pull it on him, too!"

Lee chuckled softly at that, but his gaze on Lex stayed as intense as ever. Lex noticed there was a sadness and pain behind those blue eyes that became more pronounced as Lee explained how he had ended up in the brig – and Lex didn't think it was the knowledge that he had pulled a gun on his superior officer.

Lex broke the silence that had fallen again with another question. "So what was your job on the ship before you ended up in here?"

"I was a pilot, like you." Lee answered. "The CAG."

Lex raised her eyebrows at Lee's revelation, before flashing him a teasing grin. "The CAG, huh?"

"Yeah." Lee smiled in return. "Rather by-the-book, too, until the, uh…incident that landed me in here."

Lex's grin widened at his reply. Lee grinned right back at her. He felt a surprising ease with the woman sharing the brig with him, despite her interesting origins and the fact he had just met her. Lee supposed he should at least be wary of Lex, because for all he knew she could be a Cylon plant. But Lee had a gut feeling that he could trust her and he listened to his gut these days.

Ever since he had disobeyed that order, he had felt a release and freedom he never had before, weird as that was. There was even a suppressed recklessness and passion in his actions now, which strangely, the crew of the _Galactica_ seemed to respect and admire in him even more.

However, before anything else could be said by either of them, Colonel Tigh stalked into the room, followed by several Marines. Lee stood up straighter and stepped closer to the front of his cell. Warily, he watched as Tigh walked over to Lex's cell and gave her a narrow-eyed stare. "Colonel Tigh." Lee greeted. "What's going on?"

Tigh sent an annoyed glance in Lee's direction, before turning back to Lex. "You're coming with me." He said. "We need to have a talk."

* * *

"Ah…Jack." Daniel called. "You might want to see this."

Jack sighed as he walked over to where Daniel was standing on the top of a rise. "Danny." He called back. "If this is just another destroyed building, there are only so many burnt-out skyscrapers…"

Jack stared at the sigh below him as he crested the rise, coming to a stop just beside his friend. "…that can be interesting." He finished in a much softer voice. "What is it?"

"I believe it's called the Delphi Museum of Natural History." Daniel said.

Jack shot him a glare and his friend only replied with a smile. Both of them knew that Jack hadn't meant the only relatively undestroyed building they'd seen in the hour since they arrived on the planet. The humour was an attempt to keep the mood light, despite the destruction of the planet.

"I don't know." Daniel replied seriously. "Ships are usually yours and Sam's department. I'm the archaeologist, remember?"

The ship the pair was talking about was sitting on what had once been a patch of lawn outside the museum. It looked a little like a Goa'uld Death Glider, as it had the same curving shape to its wings. Instead of a cockpit, however, the ship had a metal dome that almost looked like a head, with a narrow slit at the front.

"There is no one inside." Teal'c said, who had ranged ahead to check out the ship, along with Sam.

"No people anyway." Sam clarified. "There is something in there. It looks and smells like rotting meat. If I didn't think it was insane, I'd say there was once a brain in there."

Jack looked once again at the obviously battered and scarred ship. "You're calling that insane after all that we've seen and done in our lives?" he questioned his wife.

A smile teased at the corners of Sam's mouth. "Okay, maybe not so insane." She said.

Jack tapped his radio. "_Prometheus_, this is O'Neill."

"We copy you, sir." Colonel Mackenzie's voice crackled in reply.

"There's a small ship, directly in front of us." Jack told her. "Can you scan the planet for anything else like that?"

"Yes, sir." Colonel Mackenzie replied. "I'll let you know as soon as I find anything."

"Thanks, Mac." Jack said.

Jack then followed Daniel down the other side of the hill, to where he was standing outside the entrance to the museum. "Do you want to go in and have a look?" Jack asked him.

"What?" Daniel said, coming out of his thoughts and looking at his friend. "Oh, no, I was just thinking about the meaning of that."

Jack looked up at the sign his friend was looking at. "I thought you knew the meaning of the word 'museum', Danny?"

Daniel rolled his eyes and fought a smile at Jack's sarcastic wit. "No, 'colonial'." He said. "These people obviously acknowledged they didn't come from this planet."

Jack shrugged. "So do a lot of people out there." He said, referring to the many groups of humans in the Universe transplanted by either the Goa'uld or the Asgard, and more recently, by them.

"No." Daniel disagreed. "The use of the word 'colony' suggests it was more recent than that."

"What are you thinking, Daniel?" Jack asked, knowing Daniel was leading up to making point.

"What if this isn't the only colony?" Daniel turned to him and said. "What if there are others out there?"

Jack swore. "That means that ship could be on its way to one of them and not here."

Just as he was about to hit the button on his radio again, bullets tore into the ground in front of him. Reacting on instinct, Jack grabbed Daniel by the arm and darted for the relative cover of one of the museum's walls, even as two large hulking metal robots broke out of the nearby trees.

"Take cover!" Jack bellowed, in case anyone hadn't got the idea yet, and reached for his gun.

The robots were at least twice as tall as a man and were made out of the same dull grey metal as the ship they had seen before. They even had the same narrow slit where their eyes should be, which pulsed with an eerie red light. The robots were also broad in the chest, with gun where their hands would have been. They moved with unhurried determination towards them, unconcerned about the bullets aimed in their direction – most of which seemed to just bounce off them.

"Dammit, this isn't working!" Jack growled.

"What about the zat's?" Daniel yelled over the sound of gunfire.

Jack gave his friend a curt nod to signal that he had heard him, before he drew his zat gun. He fired at the nearest machine, at the same second two more walked out from the trees. The zat blast seemed to make the robot pause a second, allowing the others to concentrate their gunfire on its head. Jack shot again and this time the robot groaned, before staggering forward a few steps and crashing to the ground. A moment later, the red light of its eyes flickered out.

"Use the zat's!" Jack bellowed the order.

The remaining three machines were hit by a barrage of zat blasts and the rest of the fight was over quickly. As the Marines went around making sure the robots were 'dead', Jack walked over to Sam and Teal'c. "Are you guys alright?" he asked.

"Yeah." Sam answered. "Just a little shaken. What were those things?"

"I was hoping you could tell me." Jack said.

"They appear to be mechanical." Teal'c stated. "Perhaps the humans of this world built them."

"Then why attack?" Daniel asked as he came up to join them.

Before anyone could speculate on the answers, they were interrupted by a shout from one of the Marines. "Sir! Ma'am!" he called. "You need to see this!"

Jack and Sam jogged over to where the Marine stood, Teal'c and Daniel following at a slightly slower pace. "See what, Corporal?" Jack asked.

"That, sir." The Marine said, indicating the nearest mechanical body.

Looking closer, Jack noticed a section of the metal around the head of the robot had been blown away. Instead of the wires and circuits he expected to see, Jack frowned when he saw the wet, meaty pink flesh underneath. "Is that what I think it is?" he asked no one in particular.

"It looks like a brain." Daniel said.

"So maybe no so insane after all." Jack said to Sam as he slanted a look at his wife.

Suddenly, the Marines, who had been standing watch, whirled and aimed their guns at the trees again. But instead of another pair of machines walking through, as everyone had expected, it was a group of humans that ran out of the trees. The group was heavily armed and wore a variety of clothes, come of which seemed to be a uniform of some type.

The group of new arrivals all pointed their weapons at Jack, Daniel, Sam, Teal'c and the Marines, but they seemed shocked to see the bodies of the machines on the ground. One of them strode forward, gun held in front of her and pointed directly at Jack. She was one of the ones wearing a uniform and her blonde hair was cut short.

"Who the frak are you?" she demanded.

* * *

Colonel Tigh stared at the young woman in handcuffs sitting before him. She seemed more annoyed than nervous or scared, despite the heavily armed Marines standing at the only door to the room. Tigh leaned forward across the table intimidatingly, once again wondering just who she was – the pilot she claimed she was or a Cylon agent sent to reap more destruction.

"Who are you?" he asked in a low voice.

The woman gave him a steely-eyed stare and Tigh could see the hint of anger glinting in her brown gaze. "Captain Alexandra O'Neill, F-302 _Interceptor_ pilot in the Tau'ri Fleet." She stated levelly.

"You're human?" Tigh asked, but it sounded more like a disgruntled statement than a question.

"Yes." Lex replied, her gaze narrowing,

"How did you find the _Galactica_?" Tigh asked shortly.

"By accident." Lex replied, trying hard to keep her voice level and calm. "My _Interceptor_ was knocked out during a battle and it messed up my jump drive."

At the mention of a jump drive, Tigh's gaze sharpened and the questions became more rapid and abrupt. "A jump drive?"

Lex gave Tigh a level stare. "My _Interceptor_ is fitted with a hyperspace engine that let's me make small jumps through space."

This information made Tigh pause for a second as he thought about the potential implications. Changing tactics, Tigh asked Lex a different question. "Why do you carry weapons and explosives?"

"They're standard issue for all Fleet personnel…" Lex began to reply.

"It's standard issue to carry high grade explosive?" Tigh interrupted sharply.

Lex shut her mouth and pressed her lips into a grim line as she tried to hold back the angry words bubbling up in her throat. She was sick of the arrogant man and his questions! Normally, she didn't mind answering questions, but the constant suspicion and disdain in the man's eyes was too much!

Her eyes were flinty at the accusation in his tone. "The Tau'ri are at war." She said bluntly. "The explosive is just in case I get captured."

"By other Tau'ri?" the Colonel snapped.

"No!" Lex snapped angrily, right back at him. "The war we fight is not just some silly disagreement between groups of humans! We fight for our very freedom!"

Tigh stared at her, incredulous of her statement. "Your enemies are not human?" he asked. "Then what are they?"

"Aliens who…" Lex began.

"Aliens?" Tigh laughed shortly, more because he believed her answer was ludicrous than from humour. "There are no such things as aliens in the Universe – otherwise we would have found a sign of them before now."

Glaring openly at Tigh now, Lex spoke again, her tone measured and cold. "Oh, I can assure you aliens are quiet real."

Before anything more could be said, the interrogation – of which Lex had no doubt it was – was interrupted by a sharp rap at the door. One of the nearby Marines opened it and mumbling something to the person standing outside. Obviously, whoever it was was very important as the Marine immediately snapped to attention, before having a quick and quiet word to the Colonel.

Clearly annoyed, both at the interruption and who it was, Tigh got up and walked out of the room, leaving instructions for the Marines to watch Lex inside. Then he turned to face the President of the Twelve Colonies, Laura Roslin.

"What can I do for you, Madam President?" Tigh asked, trying to be polite as possible and keep the anger and annoyance out of his tone.

"Is it true that you are interrogating a pilot that was found drifting near the _Galactica_?" Laura asked, getting straight to the point of her visit.

"How did you know that?" Tigh asked, forgetting not to be annoyed.

"I have my sources." The president replied mysteriously. "So I take it that it's true?"

Tigh nodded quickly, a frown on his face. "We found a woman who claims to be a pilot drifting in a ship not far from the _Galactica_." Tigh admitted. "But we still don't know whether she's a Cylon agent or not."

Laura nodded, taking in the information. "What about the Cylon detector, Dr. Baltar was working on?" she questioned.

Tigh's frown deepened. "We can't use it." He said. "Dr. Baltar had just finished it before he collapsed, but so far we've been unable to figure out how it works."

Nodding again, Laura continued her questioning, all the while using a deceptively calm and soothing voice. "What have you found out?"

"Not much." Tigh said. "She says her name is Captain Alexandra O'Neill and that she's a member of something called the Tau'ri Fleet."

At that piece of information, Laura began to look very interested. "Colonel, could it be possible…" she started to say.

"She was carrying weapons and high grade explosive." Tigh interrupted, knowing exactly what the president was leading up to. "Enough to do severe damage to the _Galactica_ if it was put in the right place. Right now, I'd suggest we not make any assumptions until we can truly say whether she's a Cylon or not."

"Wouldn't that also include making assumptions that she is a Cylon?" Laura asked sweetly.

Tigh narrowed his eyes and glared at the president, cursing the Gods who had put him in this position. I'm merely suggesting caution." He said levelly.

Laura dismissed the argument with a wave of her hand, knowing that they could debate it better later, when they were in a more private location. "Can I talk to her?" she asked instead.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Tigh refused. "Beside, this is a military matter."

The president narrowed her eyes. "Whether or not that woman is a Cylon, she is of great importance to this fleet and the future of humanity, which makes it my business as much as yours." Her voice was still soft, but there was an edge of steel to it.

Knowing that the president was too stubborn to give in easily, and that he was too tired to argue with her, Tigh nodded, before holding open the door for her. "But keep it brief." He muttered quietly to her as she passed.

Laura entered the room, her eyes drawn to the handcuffed woman sitting behind a battered table. The woman obviously wore part of a uniform, but it seemed that most of it had already been stripped from her. Her hair was held back in a braid and clear brown eyes watched everything levelly. As Laura looked over her, she saw the gleam of intelligence in her eyes and the subtle way she kept the Marines in her peripheral vision even as she stared at her and Tigh – this woman was not someone to underestimate.

"Captain O'Neill," Laura said, coming to sit down opposite her. "My name is Laura Roslin."

"I would say I'm pleased to meet you, but perhaps the circumstances of our meeting prevent that." Lex replied.

Laura nodded. It was a diplomatic answer and Laura was impressed. If she had to guess, Laura would also say this woman had been trained in diplomacy as well as in fighting. All her observations were leading Laura down a somewhat scary path – that there was also more to this story than met the eye. Her gut instinct was to trust this woman, despite her mysterious arrival and all the suspicion that surrounded her.

Trying for a small smile, Laura nodded at Lex's reply. "Perhaps." She agreed. "I hope we meet under more pleasant circumstances in the future."

Lex stared at her and raised an eyebrow in dry amusement. "So what did you want to know?" she asked bluntly.

"Know?" Laura echoed, a little surprise at the speed the polite diplomatic-speak had disappeared.

Leaning back in her chair, Lex gave her a narrow-eyed stare. "You came down here with the sole purpose of speaking to me." She said. "That means there's something you want to know."

Tigh, who stood slightly behind Laura, but intently watching the conversation, broke his silence. "We want to know if you're a Cylon agent or not." He growled.

Laura looked back over her shoulder and shot him an annoyed glance. "Where are you from, Captain?" she asked gently.

Lex looked between the two people in front of her. The made a good pair. Tigh was arrogant and antagonistic, while Laura was understanding and soothing. But neither of them was going to get much more out of her without doing something in return. She was sick of the accusations and insults, but most of all, she just wanted to get back to her ship and get some sleep.

"The _U.N.E.S_ _Prometheus_." Lex replied.

"And that's a ship?" Laura asked.

Lex nodded. "The flagship of the U.N.E or Tau'ri Fleet." She added.

Looking at her, as if considering how to approach the topic, Laura paused before asking, "I meant what's the name of the planet you come from?" she said.

Lex smiled slightly as she shook her head at the sudden directness and the annoyance she heard behind the tone. Hanging out with Uncle Daniel and Uncle Teal'c meant that not only could she read people rather well, but Lex had grown up learning the nuances of language. As a result, she knew that the cool and calm woman in front of her was close to loosing patience.

"Why do you want to know?" she asked.

While Laura seemed to be thinking up an answer to Lex's abrupt question, Tigh exploded with the frustration and stress he had been feeling ever since she had been spotted by the _Galactica_. "Madam President, it's no use!" he snapped in a low voice to Laura. "She's a Cylon!"

Lex heard the words, and angry herself, she growled right back at the Colonel. "I am not a Cylon! I am a pilot in the U.N.E Fleet!"

"U.N.E?" Laura questioned gently, trying to diffuse the situation a little as the Marines were getting nervous and reaching for their weapons. "What's that?"

"The United Nations of Earth." Lex stated coldly, anger glittering in her eyes,

Laura turned as white as a sheet at Lex's revelation and Tigh looked a little queasy. "Earth?" Laura echoed in barely more than a whisper.

"Yeah." Still angry, Lex's tone was a little biting. "It's a big green and blue planet I like to call home."

Seemingly oblivious to her all of a sudden, Lex watched Laura turn to Tigh. "We've found them." She said in a reverent voice. "We've found the Thirteenth Colony!"

To Be Continued…

* * *

Author's Note: Suitably dramatic, no? Sorry, but I just couldn't resist.

Cheeky.


	5. A Matter of Trust

Author's Note: I've changed the designation of the _Prometheus _slightly, from U.N.E to U.N.E.S (United Nations of Earth Ship). It was pointed out by RogueCanuck that this would be more realistic as it would bee along the lines of USS or HMS. Thanks for that. Any other nitpicks are welcome, because I always like to know what could be better!

Cheeky.

* * *

The Thirteenth Colony:

Chapter Four:

By cheeky-chaos

"We've found them." Laura said in a reverent voice. "We've found the Thirteenth Colony!"

Tigh frowned, his eyes glittering with anger. "No, we haven't!" he hissed at Laura. Then he turned to Lex. "I wondered what you Cylons were going to try next, but this is far more imaginative than I expected from a bunch of Toasters." He told her.

"I am not a Cylon!" Lex snapped for what felt like the millionth time.

Colonel Tigh ignored her outburst and motioned for Laura to follow him out of earshot. "The Cylons are just trying to trap us with mentions of Earth!" he growled. "You've got to stop letting your obsession to find Earth blind you to that!"

"I won't deny that time is running out, Colonel." Laura said levelly. "But my dying has nothing to do with this. The ancient prophecies state that 'a stranger who walks among the stars' will lead us home. I believe the stranger is this woman."

"And you're willing to believe everything she says on face value because of that?" Tigh asked, incredulous.

While he knew better than to question Laura's beliefs, he often doubted the wisdom of letting the idea of destiny and ancient prophecies that may or may not be true cloud your judgement. He himself believed in the Gods too, but there were certain things he preferred to do himself without their influence, thank you.

"Of course not." Laura replied. "But that does not mean we should treat her as a common criminal."

It was in that moment that Colonel Tigh fervently wished for Commander Adama's swift and sudden recovery. His old friend would know what to do – and he had a knack for dealing with the President when she was at her most stubborn, as she was now. Tigh feared his was too old and set in his ways to deal with this situation with the compassion it deserved. Laura truly believed she would lead the fleet to Earth and save them. It was Tigh who wasn't so sure Earth existed.

Sighing, Tigh looked at Laura. "Madam President." He said in a more reasonable tone. "This is a military matter, and as a result, I have to use the utmost caution. That woman poses a threat to the fleet and if she turns out to be who she says she is, I will apologise to her. But she stays under guard for now."

Laura looked at him and frowned. But she did agree. "Do what you feel you must, Colonel."

"Thank you, Madam President." Tigh replied.

Walking back to the table, Tigh glared at Lex, who was sitting at the table with an annoyed look on her face. She didn't like the constant disbelief at her motives and origins. It was probably because she'd never dealt with it before – most people she encountered were already part of the Tau'ri Alliance or knew of their origins on Earth.

"What's Earth like?" he asked bluntly.

"Its home." Lex said. Then she shook her head. "I've already told you far too much."

"Oh?" Tigh snapped. "And why's that?"

Lex narrowed her eyes. "I was trying to make things a little friendlier between us." She said.

"You should have just saved your breath, then." Tigh told her.

Lex took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to suppress her anger. "So I now see." she replied, her tone deceptively mild.

"Please, Captain." Laura said, using Lex's rank. "We'd like to know many things from you, particularly about Earth."

Lex looked at Laura, her gaze thoughtful and measuring. "You seem to be awfully keen on learning about Earth." She remarked,

"We've been searching for Earth." Laura replied.

Nodding, Lex's gaze remained measuring. "I'll make you a deal then." She said. "Let me contact my ship, the _Prometheus_, and you'll find out everything you ever wanted to know about Earth."

"And fly straight into a Cylon trap?" Tigh scoffed. "I don't think so."

"Then I'm not saying another word about Earth." Lex told him. "I've run out of patience with the accusations and threats you uttered since I got here. I've tried to explain who I am, but while my innocence continues to fall on deaf ears you'll get nothing more from me."

Tigh straightened his posture at her words, going from straight-backed to stiff in a second. "Take her back to the brig!" he ordered the Marines.

Lex sighed. "Fine." She muttered. "Like I really expected any difference."

If Tigh heard what she said, he ignored her. As she was hauled out of the room, she caught the sad look of the President, who seemed to regret the way things had turned out as much as Lex did. Lex gritted her teeth as she was marched down the corridors and back to the brig. At least now, maybe she could get some sleep.

When Lex got back to the brig and the Marines had locked her back into her cell, she turned to the sight she had not expected to see. Lee Adama was dressed in his full uniform and standing just outside the doorway of his now open cell. Beside his stood another man, a little younger than Lee, with dark hair and a shy smile.

Walking over to the bars, Lex rested her hands on them as she looked over at Lee. "I see someone busted you out." She said.

Lee shrugged. "I was only given three weeks in the brig as punishment." He explained. "I guess I was just too valuable to the fleet."

"Well I'm glad one of us will get to see the light of day." Lex said with a small smile.

A pained look crossed Lee's face. "I haven't seen sunlight in over a year." He said softly.

Lex was surprised at that, but before she could ask why not, the man next to Lee spoke. "Sir, perhaps we should go. Colonel Tigh wants to see you."

Lee nodded. "I want to see my father, too." He said. "How's he doing?"

"The same." Lee's companion replied. "But Dr. Cottle is doing the best he can, sir."

"I know, Lieutenant." Lee replied, pain in his eyes. "I know."

Seeing the sadness that had come over both men at the mention of Lee's father, Lex was reluctant to speak even though she was curious to know what was going on. It sounded like Lee's father was loved by more than just his son – and considering they were both military, Lex wondered if Lee's father wasn't someone with a rank as well.

Turning back to Lex, Lee gave her a small smile. "I'm sure you'll be out of there before you know it." He said.

"I can only hope." Lex agreed. "And, Lee? I hope your father gets better."

Lee looked surprised at her mention, and then sad. He opened his mouth as if to say something before changing his mind. Giving her a final sad smile, he turned and left the brig with his companion, leaving Lex all alone.

* * *

"Who the frak are you?" the woman demanded, her gun pointed directly at Jack.

"I could ask you the same question." Jack called back, his gun also pointed in the direction of the newly arrived group of humans.

There was a moment of silence as the two groups continued their standoff. "Danny?" Jack muttered to his friend.

"Uh, yeah." Daniel said, putting his gun away. Stepping forward, he kept his hands visible and away from his body. "Um…" he began in a louder voice and talking to the blonde, who appeared to be the leader of the other group. "My name is Dr. Daniel Jackson and we are peaceful explorers from Earth. We mean you no harm."

At Daniel's mention of Earth, the blonde woman paled slightly, but her stance remained aggressive. There was a short whispered conversation between two of the others in uniform, a man and a woman, but a sharp glance from the blonde silenced them. Daniel noticed the curious reaction, as did Jack, but neither said anything.

"Why are you here?" the blonde woman asked.

"We're explorers." Daniel repeated. "And we're looking for a, uh…friend of ours."

"A friend?" the woman sounded defensive and her grip tightened on her gun.

"My daughter." Jack said.

"What would she be doing here?" the blonde snapped.

"Why don't we all put our guns away and talk about it?" Daniel asked, ever the voice of reason.

Jack gave the blonde woman a measuring look. "Lower your weapons and we'll lower ours." He said.

The blonde gave Jack a long look, before nodding slightly. "Sir?" one of the Marines called.

"Lower your weapons, sergeant." Jack ordered.

Together, both groups lowered their weapons and holstered them. Jack then walked forward with Sam and Teal'c a step behind him. "My name is General Jack O'Neill." He said when he reached the blonde woman and held out a hand.

The woman looked at his hand warily, before looking back at Jack's face with a suspicious green gaze. _Not so big on handshakes, then_. Jack thought. He lowered his hand and introduced the two people behind him. "And this is Dr. Samantha O'Neill and Teal'c."

Jack then raised an inquiring eyebrow at the blonde. "My name is Lieutenant Kara Thrace." She said after a moment.

Looking over the other members of the band of humans in front of him, he took in their tired and ragged appearance. "Are you the survivors of this attack?" he asked.

Kara nodded, but didn't introduce anyone else. "You said you were from Earth?" she asked instead.

Daniel got the feeling that the answer to this question would be of vital importance, not only to the group in front of him, but to whether or not they became allies or enemies. "Yes." He said. "We are all members of the United Nations of Earth Fleet. And Jack, Sam and I were all born on Earth."

"He wasn't?" Kara said, motioning towards Teal'c.

"I was born on the planet of Chulak." Teal'c said in his deep rumble of a voice.

Before Kara could ask another question, the uniformed woman who had spoken quietly before stepped forward. The man hovered behind her as she moved, as if reluctant to be more than a step or two away from her. "We should move. More Centurions will be here soon. We can talk in the caves."

Kara nodded. "You'd better come with us. It's not safe here."

"Are those things the Centurions?" Sam asked, indicating the robots they had fought earlier.

"Yes." The uniformed woman said. "They are Cylon warriors."

"What's a Cylon?" Daniel asked.

"The Toasters that destroyed this planet1" Kara muttered.

The woman in uniform looked towards Daniel. "Cylons are a race of machines that were once built by humans but evolved on their own." She said. "Like me."

"You're a Cylon?" Sam asked.

"Yes." The woman said. "I was given the name Lieutenant Sharon Valerii." Her lips twisted into a rather sardonic smile. "I also thought I was human for a very long time."

"As interesting as this is people, I think it's time to go somewhere else." Jack called out. "I'd rather not meet anymore of those Centurions just now."

"Indeed." Teal'c agreed.

Kara nodded her agreement as well. "Follow me." She said.

* * *

Stifling a yawn, Lex stretched and sat up on the lumpy bed. Trying to sleep wasn't working, both because of her growing fear at where she found herself and the unfamiliar noises that surrounded her. Most of them sounded so familiar, almost like she was back aboard the _Prometheus_, but others were so alien. It was eerie and scary and recognizable all at the same time.

Lex threw back the scratchy blanket and began to pace the confines of her cell, trying to figure out how she was going to gain the trust of those aboard the _Galactica_. She was beginning to see that something terrible had happened to the crew and the fleet that followed – and that these Cylons were responsible in some way. This would make it difficult to talk to the Colonel, since he still seemed to believe she was one.

But Lex was an officer in the U.N.E Fleet and she had grown up an SG-1 brat. If anyone could convince the Colonel she was a friend, it was her. Thinking back to when she was younger, Lex tried to remember Daniel's guidelines for diplomacy. Smiling, Lex recalled that wasn't the only unusual thing she had learnt growing up. For instance, she was the only pilot she knew who could speak fluent Ancient Egyptian and tell Mesopotamian pottery from Assyrian.

Sadly, this knowledge hadn't stopped her from being accused of being a Cylon or locked in the brig of the _Galactica_. Lex sighed again and ran her hands over her face. What would her father do in this situation? Grinning, Lex thought about all the trouble he would have gotten in to by now – so maybe using her father as an example wasn't the most constructive. But it could be the most fun.

Before Lex could reflect on anything else or speculate on other ways of getting out of the brig, she was startled out of her thoughts by the sounds of a scuffle going on just outside the room. The scuffle was short and Lex was instantly wary. Could this be the Cylons the Colonel had been talking about? Or had her father found her?

She stood up and watched the doorway, ready for anything. However, Lex did not expect to see the beautiful and slim blonde who walked through the door, dressed in black from head to toe. She hardly seemed capable of knocking out the three Marines stationed in the corridor outside the room, but Lex knew that appearances could be deceiving.

The blonde was followed by two men. Both were brown haired, and almost opposite of each other in both attitude and looks. One of the men was of medium height and could only be described as average, while the other was taller and seemed to be almost callous in his behaviour. However, all three of them had an air of danger about them and Lex didn't trust them for a second.

The blonde stalked forward first, coming right up to the bars of Lex's cell. "She looks so vunerable…" she crooned at Lex, weirding her out.

"…and so inferior…" one of the men added.

"…but so holy." The other man finished.

Now the blonde woman looked directly into Lex's eyes. "Have you truly seen Earth?" she asked.

Not sure that she should really be talking to these strange people, Lex said nothing. She just continued to watch them warily. If the Colonel was scared of them, there had to be a reason.

The blonde turned and walked a few steps along the bars, trailing her hand over them as she did. "Why won't you answer me?" she asked.

Lex continued to say nothing. "It doesn't matter anyway." The blonde said conversationally. "We have ways of making you talk, human."

With that, she turned and walked away from the cell as the two men walked towards it. Using impressive strength, the two wrenched the door free from its lock and waited there in the doorway. Lex felt a shiver of fear trickle coldly down her spine and wondered just what she was going to do now.

Suddenly the two men looked up towards the air beyond Lex's shoulder. "Go and help them." The woman ordered and the two men turned to leave. "I can handle her."

Not wanting to be handled at all, Lex quickly looked about for anything she could use as a weapon, but sadly this was the brig and there was nothing. The woman stalked forward again and Lex backed up. Sadly, the woman was too fast for Lex, and she charged up before Lex could do anything else. She lashed out, but the woman hit her across the face with her hand hard enough that the world blacked out for a moment.

When Lex surfaced from her daze, she was surprised to find herself being dragged by a leg along the corridors of the _Galactica_. She blinked and then tried not to wince as her head struck something. Thankfully, she was soon dragged into a room, where the dragging was stopped and her leg was abruptly dropped.

Blinking again as her head cleared some more, Lex became aware of the beeping and electronic sounds she could hear. _It sounds so familiar_, she thought. Then it came to her – this room sounded almost exactly like the infirmary. She had spent many hours in it, both injured and talking to Janet. _I must be in the _Galactica's _infirmary_, she decided.

Then she frowned. What would a Cylon want an infirmary for?

In the second after that, the answer struck her. Lee's father! She had gathered from the conversation she had overheard that Lee's father help a high rank on the ship and he was in the infirmary. Rolling to her feet as quietly as she could, Lex looked around and noticed that the infirmary room they were in was curtained off from the rest and relatively empty. It only held two beds, one of which was occupied by a scruffy dark haired man, the other by an older man, who despite being unconscious, still held the air of command. Lee's father.

The blonde who had knocked her out was standing over Lee's father's body and she held a large needle in her hand. Reacting on instinct, knowing the blonde meant the man harm, Lex lashed out and caught the blonde around the throat. She made sure she also grabbed the woman's wrist to keep the needle away from her.

Unfortunately the blonde was unusually strong, and she quickly twisted out of Lex's grip. "Bitch!" she muttered, before lashing out at her. "It doesn't matter anyway. If we have your ship, we don't need you!"

Lex blocked the swing, and keeping an eye on the needle, she retaliated. The punch barely fazed the blonde. _Bad sign_, Lex thought. The blonde lashed out again, this time sending Lex backwards into a trolley of metal instruments. The crash echoed through the infirmary and Lex took a moment to shake the stars from her eyes. Man, that woman was strong!

But Lex had not grown up sparring with Teal'c without picking up a few things. Rolling to her feet again and avoiding the blonde's next attack, she ducked under a punch before smacking her across the wrist with the metal tray she had picked up.

The woman dropped the needle and it rolled under one of the beds. The blonde narrowed her eyes and Lex smashed the tray towards the woman's head. The woman blocked, her arm denting the tray. Ripping it from Lex's grip, the blonde then picked her up as if she weighed very little and threw her through the curtain into the main part of the infirmary.

The earlier crash had obviously alerted the small medical staff to someone's presence and Lex's appearance through the curtain caused a cry from the silver haired doctor standing just on the other side of the curtain. Lex skidded along the floor, but years of rough-housing and fight training meant that she didn't really hurt herself.

Scrambling to her feet again, she ignored the doctor's protests and focused her eyes on the blonde who had just appeared through the curtain. "Cylon!" the doctor cried and raced for an intercom set in the wall.

Lex looked around and grabbed a piece of what looked like metal pipe from a nearby trolley. Thus armed, she faced the blonde again, make-shift weapon held high. Using her speed again, the blonde charged, but this time Lex was ready for her. She ducked under the punch and kick, before smashed the pipe into the blonde's ribs. Lashing out with a kick of her own, Lex caught the woman under the jaw with enough force to push her back a step.

She then hit the woman on the temple with the pipe and made her stagger back again. Unfortunately, the woman regained her balance and equilibrium faster than Lex had anticipated and managed to catch Lex around the wrist. Using her exceptional strength, the blonde swung Lex and sent her flying backwards into the wall and another trolley just as a group of people thundered into the infirmary.

Groaning in pain, Lex blinked, her vision blurry and her head aching. Sounds of a short gunfight surrounded her, but Lex was still too dazed to really take notice. Then suddenly she focused on a pair of concerned blue eyes as her vision cleared. "Are you alright?" Lee asked, from where he knelt before her.

"Just peachy." Lex muttered.

She groaned again as Lee helped her to her feet. "What was the Cylon doing, sir?" Lee directed his question to the doctor.

"Trying to kill your father." Lex answered for him, looking back towards the curtain. "She had a needle of something that rolled under one of the beds."

The doctor walked past the curtain and after a moment, found the needle. His eyes widened as he saw it. "There's enough poison in here to kill the Commander twice over." He said.

"Is her alright?" Lee asked.

The doctor checked over the Commander's vital signs. "She didn't harm him." The doctor replied.

It was at that moment that Colonel Tigh entered the infirmary, more Marines at his back. "What is going on here?" he snapped.

"This Cylon tried to kill the Commander." Lee said. "We found her attacking Captain O'Neill."

"Is the Commander all right?" Tigh asked the doctor.

"She didn't harm him." The doctor repeated his earlier message.

Tigh then fixed his gaze on the rather battered Lex. "And how did you get here?" he asked.

"She kidnapped me from the brig." Lex told him. "Hit me across the face so hard I blacked out. Next thing I knew, I was here."

The Colonel nodded. "There's a bunch of Toasters headed for the flight deck, Captain." He said to Lee. "Take your men and head them off."

"My ship!" Lex cried, suddenly remembering what the Cylon had said. "She said that if the Cylons had my ship then they didn't need me."

"Why do they want you?" Tigh asked.

"They want to know about Earth." Lex replied.

As Lee moved to leave the infirmary, Lex followed, but Tigh stopped her. "And where do you think you're going?" he asked.

"I have to protect my ship!" Lex snapped. "I'm not letting those things have her!"

Tigh gave her a considering look. "You'll need better weapons than that piece of metal if you plan on stopping them." He commented.

Lex turned to him and narrowed her eyes as he held something out to her. It was her pistol and zat gun. She smiled and reached for them, before frowning. "And why do suddenly trust me?" she asked. "An hour ago you thought I was a Cylon!"

"You saved the Commander's life." Tigh said. "And you attacked a Cylon. Besides, your injuries are too human."

"Well, thanks." Lex said. "I think."

She grabbed her weapons and strapped the holsters to her legs. "Just so you know," Tigh said. "If I was to do things over again, I would do them exactly the same."

"Considering what I just saw, Colonel." Lex replied. "I completely understand why."

Tigh gave her a brief smile. "That's as much of an apology as you'll get, you know."

"I know." Lex told him.

"Go." Tigh then told her and she took off after Lee at a jog.

Looking back over her shoulder briefly, she smiled at the Colonel. "Thank you!" she called back to him.

To Be Continued…


	6. Explanations and More Cylons!

Author's Note: Thanks to everyone for the reviews! Love them and keep it up!

Oh, and I didn't know about the differing lengths of the _Prometheus_ compared to the _Galactica_, so for the duration of this story I'm just going to pretend they're not so different in size ;). And thanks everyone for letting me know about the _Prometheus_ being destroyed, but I'm writing the story as if it went AU after season 7, so there's no Ori. Thanks anyway!

Cheeky.

P.S. Sorry this chapter took so long, but I had to catch up on a whole lot of things and haven't had a chance to write in a while.

* * *

The Thirteenth Colony:

Chapter Five:

By cheeky-chaos

Looking around the dank, dark cave he found himself in, Jack sighed. How was it that he once again found himself negotiating on behalf of Earth and its allies in the middle of a cave? He wouldn't be surprised if the amount of major decisions and agreements made in caves outnumbered those made in plush meeting rooms. What did that say about the SGC? Probably that they would do whatever was needed, no matter where they found themselves.

"So, let me get this straight." He said to Kara, giving her a level stare. "The Cylons destroyed the Colonies and most of your Fleet in a surprise attack after forty years and you don't know why?"

"They always said it was part of the divine plan." Sharon answered for her.

Jack, Sam, Teal'c and Daniel had been introduced to the leaders of the small group of survivors and the whole story had been explained to them. It seemed the survivors mostly consisted of people who had not been in the cities during the attack and a handful of military personnel who had not been aboard any of the ships.

"You sound like you don't believe them anymore." Daniel commented.

"I don't." Sharon said. "I guess you could say my eyes were opened."

Jack sighed again and rubbed his hands over his face. He was tired and he was pretty sure his radiation medication was about to run out. He was also beginning to get a headache from thinking about all the trouble they had gotten themselves involved in this time.

It seemed that the Cylons, who were originally built as weapons in ongoing inter-Colony wars, had fled after the first Cylon war between them and the humans and over the next forty or so years, had evolved into something else. They had then launched a surprise attack on the Colonies and had almost completely destroyed them. The remnants had all joined together, under the protection of the _Battlestar Galactica_ and undertaken a journey to find the thirteenth Colony – Earth.

However, to further complicate things, it appeared that while Commander Adama, the leader of the fleet, had publicly announced he knew the location of Earth, he actually didn't believe it existed. And Kara had found out just before she had jumped back to Caprica, the planet they were now on, in direct violation of her orders. So finding a group of people that claimed to be from Earth had been a bit of a shock to her, since she hadn't been sure it actually existed.

"Your eyes were opened?" Daniel asked.

"I was always told that humans were violent and brutal. It was their fault that war had come to be and that it was our job to rid the universe of them so that peace could once again come to be." Sharon explained. "I have memories of believing I was human, and they were nothing like I had been told. If humans were capable of love, then how could they be the monsters that I had been told they were?"

"This divine plan?" Jack asked. "What is it?"

"Simply to begin the universe anew." She said. "To breed a truly divine race that would bring peace instead of war."

Jack snorted. "Where have I heard that before?" he asked no one in particular.

Sam hid a smile and continued to look over the technology that was piled in her lap. Daniel just rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Excuse, Jack." He said. "He believes his sarcastic wit is hilarious."

Kara was also trying to hide a smile. She was a little taken aback with the humans that sat in front of her. They seemed so similar to the people that she had grown up around and worked with, and yet they were different as well. To them, nothing seemed impossible or surprising. But aside from that, there was also such a strong sense of family about them. As if they had seen and done so much that it had bound them together in a way no one could separate.

It was similar to Kara's feeling aboard the _Galactica_, but perhaps a little stronger. She wasn't sure, but their acceptance of her and the other survivors was like balm on a wound. She had been so scared that she would be ostracised from everyone because of the way she had disobeyed her orders and the mythical artefact that she had come to find – but to Daniel and Jack and the others, this was normal and something that was right.

"I know someone like that." Kara told Daniel, her thoughts drifting to Lee as they always seemed to at least once a day.

She wondered if he was still mad at her over sleeping with Dr. Baltar. It definitely hadn't been one of her smartest decisions, but then, they usually weren't. Maybe, by now, his anger at her just leaving like that would be making him annoyed enough to forget about her mistake – but probably not. Kara also wondered, for the millionth time, what it would be like it the truth ever came out. After all, it had been his name she had called out, not Baltar's.

Blinking and returning her thoughts to the conversation about her, and not her completely fraked up life, Kara caught a shared look of amusement between Jack and Sam as Daniel began to fire rapid questions at everyone at the origins of the Colonies.

"Those sound just like the Zodiac!" Daniel cried as he heard the list of the twelve Colonies. "I mean, Caprica; Capricorn. It all fits!"

"What all fits?" This time it was Lieutenant Karl C. Agathon, or "Helo" as he was known, who spoke.

He, too, wore a military uniform and was an old friend of Kara's. Karl had stuck close to Sharon whenever he could, as if not trusting others around her. There was a complicated relationship between the two of them that nobody knew how to define – or explain. He had been a pilot aboard _Galactica_ who had given up his seat in order to save Dr. Baltar from the attacks.

"Excuse, Daniel." Jack said, echoing his friend's earlier words. "But he tends to get a little excited sometimes."

Daniel shot him a look that was clearly unamused, before turning back to Karl. "You say that the origins of humanity come from a planet called Kobol?" he asked. "Where humanity lived side-by-side with the Gods?"

Karl nodded. "Yeah."

"Well, that's not exactly true. Humanity originated on Earth and the Gods you worship were also worshiped by a civilisation on Earth." Daniel explained. "These Gods manifested themselves as glowing beings, rather like your myths, and liked to live amongst men."

"You're saying the Gods came from Earth?" Kara asked.

"Yeah!" Daniel said, sounding very excited. "I think that Kobol was a settlement of humans from Earth who were shown the way by the road-builders."

"Wait a minute!" Jack said. "Daniel, are you trying to tell me in a very complicated way that the Ancients took these people to Kobol?"

"The Ancients?" Kara asked, clearly lost by the path the conversation had taken.

Daniel nodded. "Sorry, I didn't really explain much, did I?"

"No." Jack answered for everyone.

"Okay." Daniel said, his thoughts whirling on how to explain the properly. "The Ancient Ones, or Ancients as we call them, originated on Earth millions of years ago. They have been a guiding force in the evolution of humanity, calling us their second evolution. The Ancients ascended to a higher plane of existence millions of years ago to avoid a plague that would have wiped them out and have continued watching over us."

"They were also called the 'builders of roads'," Daniel continued. "By an ancient civilisation on Earth, that sounds very much like what existed on Kobol. They worshiped the same Gods, which I believe were the Ancients who had been watching over us all along."

It was here that Sam took up the explanation, having caught Daniel's look. "The Ancients were the builders of a network of what we call 'Stargates', that are actually controlled wormholes that allow us to travel almost instantaneously over large distances." She said. "They also possessed amazing technology, including ships capable of large scale space travel. We believe this is how some of the Ancients left Earth."

"Left Earth?" Kara had been following the explanation, and despite wanting to believe the Gods were gods, it made sense.

Daniel took up the explanation again. "Some Ancients left Earth in a large city called Atlantis, in hope of finding a place safe from the plague. Instead, they encountered another enemy." Daniel said, his voice lyrical. "I believe that it was from there that some Ancients travelled to Kobol, seeding human life that they watched over much like they did on Earth. Then perhaps the Wraith found them, perhaps something else happened, but I believe the Ancients stayed behind when you left Kobol to give you time to get away."

Kara was blown away by this new information. It seemed surreal and yet believable all at the same time. Her mind sped as she tried to absorb it all and process it all. "You said some of the Ancients travelled to Kobol?" she asked.

Daniel nodded. "The others would have travelled back to Earth." He said. "We've found accounts of their arrival – it actually coincides with the rapid development of the culture that worshiped them."

"And the thirteenth colony?" Karl asked.

"Most likely would have travelled back to Earth through the stargate, probably hoping that they would be safer on Earth." Daniel answered.

Silence fell about the cave as everyone tried to absorb what had been discovered. The crackle of Jack's radio broke the silence abruptly, Colonel Mackenzie's voice echoing through the cave. "Sir?" she said. "Are you there, sir?"

"Go ahead, Mac." Jack said.

"The scanners are showing some sort of increased activity near where you are." She quickly explained. "It matches the technological signature of that ship you had me I.D. before."

"Thanks." Jack replied. "We're on our way."

"There's something else, sir." Mac added. "Doc Fraiser says that your radiation meds are going to run out very soon and she's not going to be blamed for the consequences."

Jack chuckled. That was Janet all right. It still amused him that everyone referred to her as 'Doc Fraiser' despite her marriage. He supposed Doc Fraiser-Jackson was just too long, and Janet had drawn the line at being known as Janet Jackson – which Jack still teased her about in odd moments.

"I think its time to get out of here, kids." Jack said to the large group around him, before turning to Kara. "There's plenty of space on my ship, if you'd like to join us." He said. "And I'd appreciate your help on finding the _Battlestar Galactica_."

"Why?" Kara asked bluntly.

"Because my daughter's on it." Jack replied.

Hiding a smile, Kara nodded. "We'd be honoured, sir." She said. "After all, it's not every day that you find the thirteenth colony."

* * *

Lex sprinted down the corridor, hard on Lee and the Marines' heels. Her weapons were once again strapped to her legs in their holsters and the comforting weight gave Lex a feeling of familiarity as she ran. Her heart was pounding up into her throat at the thought of those Cylons touching her ship. She didn't want to think what they could do to it – or what they could do with that technology.

As she rounded the final corner and finally caught sight of the flight deck, Lex was amazed to see the chaos before her. Deckhands raced around the deck putting out the handful raced around the deck putting out the handful of fires that were blazing, as Marines were trying to stop the two male Cylons from doing what they came here to do. Lex felt her face harden as she saw the shorter of the two Cylons leap atop her _Interceptor_, and start to attack it with a wrench.

Lex sprinted into the flight deck and towards the Cylon who was trying to get inside her fighter. But before she could get even remotely close to her target, a strong arm reached out and grabbed the back of her T-shirt. Lex whirled to face whoever it was, only to discover it was Lee. "I don't think that's a good idea." He said.

"He's destroying my ship!" Lex snapped.

"He's stronger and faster than a human being," Lee replied. "Running at him won't solve anything."

"I wasn't going to run at him." Lex retorted. "I was going to shoot him!"

"It takes more than one bullet to kill a Cylon." Lee said.

"Who said anything about bullets?" Lex replied archly.

Lex drew her zat gun and charged it. The snapping of the 'snake's' head, along with the sound that accompanied it, startled Lee, who stared at the gun in surprise. "What's that?" he asked.

"A zat gun." Lex replied, as she aimed at the Cylon atop her fighter.

She fired once, the familiar glow and crackles surrounding the Cylon almost instantly, as the weapons whine echoed out over the flight deck. The Cylon stilled for a second, before giving a large shudder and crumpling. Lex was moving before the Cylon fell. She fired at the second Cylon as she sprinted across the flight deck towards her ship. As soon as she reached it, she vaulted onto its roof next to the crumpled body of the first Cylon. Using her foot, she shoved him off, where his body landed with a dull thump on the metal deck below.

Frowning down at the Cylon's body, Lex thought of something. "Hey, Lee!" she called out. "Do you want the Cylons dead or alive?"

Lee was still standing at the entrance to the flight deck, next to the Marines, and looking a little startled about what had just happened. "What do you mean?" he called back.

Lex held up her zat gun. "One shot from this only knocks you unconscious." She replied. "It takes two to kill."

"Dead." It was Colonel Tigh who answered, having just entered the flight deck and obviously overheard the conversation.

Nodding, Lex shot each Cylon again before holstering her zat gun. Lee and Tigh looked to be in deep conversation when she finished, so Lex turned her attention to her ship – in particular, the part that the Cylon had been trying to smash open.

"Oh, man!" Lex muttered when she saw the dents and deep scratches in the hull.

Pressing the right part of the battered hatch, Lex watched it slide open to reveal the crystals beneath. The _F-302 Interceptors_ ran on a combination of crystal technology and standard circuits, rather like their bigger cousins, the _BC-303's_. Thankfully, none of the crystals looked harmed in any way, so Lex shut the hatch.

"You must be the pilot." A voice said from below her.

Lex looked over the wing to find a tallish man with brown hair and eyes staring up at her. His face was kind and he had the slightly tired look of a man who had spent most of his life working with ships and fighters. Lex gave him a smile of greeting. "Yeah, I am." She said. "Captain Alexandra O'Neill."

"Chief Petty Officer Galen Tyrol." The man introduced himself.

Lex jumped off the top of her fighter, landing beside Tyrol. Holding out her hand, she said. "Nice to meet you, Chief. Can I call you Chief?"

"Sure, sir." Tyrol answered. "Everyone else does."

Lex smiled as Tyrol's eyes slipped towards the _Interceptor_. "She's beautiful, isn't she?" Lex commented.

"Never seen anything like her." Tyrol replied.

"Did you look over her at all?" Lex asked.

Tyrol sent Lex a somewhat guilty look. "A little, sir." He replied respectfully. "But I didn't touch anything."

Lex smiled. "It's alright, Chief." She said. "My power systems were knocked out and I haven't had a chance to look over her myself."

Tyrol gave Lex a hopeful look. "I don't suppose you need any help?" he asked.

Lex laughed. "Thanks." She said. "I'd love some."

Carefully, Lex showed Tyrol how her ship worked as she checked it over. The man was especially fascinated by the mix of crystal and wire technology. Tyrol also picked things up rather quickly and before long, he was actually giving Lex a hand to check over the systems.

When Lex found the source of the problem, she let out a muffled curse. "One of my power crystals is burnt out." She said, holding up the blackened and cracked crystal so Tyrol could see.

"I don't suppose you've got a spare?" Tyrol asked. "Unfortunately, there's nothing like that on the _Galactica_."

Lex grinned. "To tell the truth, the power crystals burn out a lot, so I've got about five spares."

Opening the cockpit, Lex climbed in and dug around behind her chair. Finding what she was looking for, she grabbed the padded case and climbed back out. She opened the case and selected the right crystal from amongst the padding, while Tyrol looked on in fascination.

"This should do it." Lex said.

"Do what?" Lee asked as he walked up.

"Sir." Tyrol greeted.

"Chief." Lee replied.

"One of my power crystals was fried." Lex answered, tossing Lee the burnt one. "I was just about to replace it."

While Lee and Tyrol looked on, Lex replaced the offending crystal and restored the hatch on the side of her fighter. "Permission to fire her up, Chief?" she asked when she was done.

"Of course, sir." Tyrol answered.

Lex climbed back up into the cockpit, as the men moved out of range of the engines, and sat in her chair. Firing up the power, Lex grinned as the engines purred into life. "Yes!" she cried with a grin. "My baby is back!"

Lex shut down her fighter again and climbed back out again, just as an announcement echoed over the flight deck. "Pass the word. Squadron of Cylon Raiders inbound. Scramble the pilots." Dee's voice sounded calm despite the meaning of her words. "Repeat: Raiders inbound. Scramble the pilots. Colonel Tigh to the CIC."

"Frak!" Lee muttered.

"For crying out loud!" Lex growled at the same time.

The three of them shared a glance, before Lee ran off towards his locker to grab his flight suit and Tyrol raced away to ready the _Vipers_ for launch. "O'Neill!" Tigh bellowed from where he stood with the Marines.

Lex jogged over to him and fell into step as they made their way to the CIC. "Sir?" she asked.

"Hang on a minute." Tigh told her, moments before they entered the CIC. "What's going on?" he snapped.

"A squadron of Raiders just jumped in, sir." Gaeta replied from his station. Lex recognised him as the man who had met Lee in the brig.

"Any sign of a Basestar?" Tigh asked.

"No, sir." Gaeta replied.

In the background, there was the constant hum of comm. chatter as the _Galactica's_ pilots sped out to meet the threat. Lex watched in amazement. It felt so different not to be one of them, seeing them launch and manoeuvre instead of space whizzing by her window.

Having got the situation in control as much as he could, Tigh turned back to Lex. "I've got a problem." He said. "I need every pilot I've got. Can I trust you to come back?"

Lex faced Tigh honestly. "As far as I'm concerned, sir." She said. "The Colonials are friends. I'm not going anywhere."

"Despite our unfriendly beginning?" Tigh asked.

"Some of Earth's best allies started off on the wrong foot." Lex replied.

"Alright." Tigh nodded. "Get our frequency off Petty Officer Dualla to tune your radio. And you're to take orders from Captain Adama. Now get out of here."

"Yes, sir!" Lex replied, turning to leave.

"Oh, and Captain O'Neill?" Tigh added, not bothering to take his eyes from the screen where he was monitoring the Raiders' positions. "Get one of the deckhands to give you back your flight suit."

"Yes, sir." Lex grinned as she jogged back towards the flight deck.

To Be Continued…


	7. Aboard the Prometheus

Author's Note: I'm so sorry I haven't updated earlier! Thank you so much for the reviews and I know a lot of you wanted to see this chap, but I've be so swamped at Uni that I haven't had a chance to write! I'll try my best to start writing a bit more regularly now.

Thanks for you patience and I hope you keep up with the story. Your reviews were brilliant too!

Cheeky.

* * *

The Thirteenth Colony:

Chapter Six:

By cheeky-chaos

Lex grinned, adrenaline already pumping through her blood as her fighter fired up. The engines kicked in, sending a hum through the _Interceptor_ and Lex flashed a "thumbs up" sign at the flight controller. He nodded in return, still a little bewildered at the differences between Lex's _Interceptor_ and the _Vipers_ he was used to. Seconds later Lex burst into space and sped away from the _Galactica_ and towards the fight.

"Apollo – Galactica." Dee's voice cut through the comm. Chatter. "Captain O'Neill incoming."

"O'Neill?" Lee questioned in surprise. Then, "Oh, frak!"

"Galactica – Hotdog." Hotdog barked. "Apollo's been hit!"

Lex glanced towards Lee's fighter, picking out the one two _Raider's_ were firing at. As another _Viper_ broke away and sped towards Lee, Lex punched her own engines. "Hang tight, Apollo." She said, her fingers flying over the controls. "I'm almost there."

Lex's _Interceptor_ was in range in seconds. She quickly fired two blasts at the nearest _Raider_, using the _Interceptor's_ retrofitted plasma-based guns that had been reverse engineered from Goa'uld technology. The blasts packed a punch and tore into the closest Cylon, exposing the sight of burnt tissue beneath the hull. "What the…" Lex muttered.

It was obvious the Cylons did not possess shielding technology like some of the bigger ships Lex was used to. Using that to her advantage, Lex aimed at the second _Raider_, targeting the areas that would do the most damage as Hotdog came up beside her. She fired seconds before he did and the combined firepower quickly tore the Cylon apart.

"You okay, Apollo?" Lex asked.

"Yeah," Lee replied. "It was just a glancing hit. Only scratched the hull plating."

"Glad to hear it." Lex replied. "Because we have incoming."

Three more _Raiders_ had broken off from the rest of the squadron at the sight of their companions being attacked and were headed straight for them. As Lex watched, another group of _Raiders _just suddenly appeared in the space beyond the main fight and three more Cylons broke away to head towards her, Lee and Hotdog.

"Frak." Hotdog muttered when he saw them.

"You can say that again." Lee agreed.

"Frak." Hotdog obliged with a grin.

Shaking her head, Lex looked though her cockpit window at the two men. "Come on, boys." She said. "Less talking, more flying!"

Punching her engines, Lex angled her fighter straight up and sped away, not willing to wait for the Cylons to get in range for a clear shot. Applying all the training and experience she had gained through the Fleet and her fight against the Goa'uld and the Wraith, she flew a straight course until two _Raiders_ peeled away to chase her.

Lex waited until the _Raiders_ were directly behind her, closing the gap between them, before accelerating sharply as she spun to the left. The nearest Cylon made a sharp turn and followed, while the other was forced to make a wider turn. Grinning, Lex then slammed on the breaks, thankful of the inertial dampeners on her _Interceptor_ and watched as the two Cylons almost collided in surprise. Opening fire, she took them both out before they were able to turn around.

Then Lex turned to look for new targets, only to catch sight of Lee's fighter speeding away from two pursuing Cylons. Wondering if she should try and help, Lex continued to watch as Lee suddenly flipped his _Viper_ completely, ending up facing both pursuing _Raiders_ and opened fire. When he was done, Lex let out a slow whistle. "Nice flying, Apollo." She said. "I can see why they named you after a god."

Spotting another group of Cylons attacking two _Vipers_, Lex punched her engines again, not bothering to wait for Lee's reply. The remainder of the fight was short and brutal as the combination of the sheer gall of the _Galactica's_ pilot and Lex's superior technology made short work of the squadron of _Raiders_. As soon as the fight was over, Dee's voice echoed over the comm. "All pilots return to the Galactica in preparation of a jump."

"Alright guys," Lee added. "You heard her."

As soon as everyone was back aboard the _Galactica_, Lex felt a somewhat familiar jolt as the ship made its hyperspace jump. She grinned as she unhooked her helmet and dumped it on the console, before leaping out of the cockpit. She was still on a high from the adrenaline and everything felt great. It was almost as if the only thing stopping her exploding and going everywhere at once was her skin. She let out a whoop of excitement as the other pilots gathered around her. She slapped Lee on the back. "Yee haw!" she cried, before laughing.

"Man, that was some nice flying, O'Neill." Hotdog told her.

"Yeah." A shorter brown haired woman exclaimed. "Name's Kat." She introduced when she saw Lex's look.

Lee slung an arm around Lex's shoulders, a large grin on his face. "We're going to have to see about giving you a callsign." He said.

"There's no need." Lex said, grinning back at the assembled pilots. "I've already got one."

"Oh, yeah?" Lee asked.

"Uh huh." Lex nodded. "Viper."

"Well, frak me." Hotdog crowed. "That's the name of our ships!"

Lex nodded. "I know."

The group was still laughing and teasing a little while later when they found themselves back in the bunkroom. Lex grinned as she watched them all, noticing just how similar it was to her own bunkroom back on the _Prometheus_, even down to the clothes on the floor. "You going to get a shower, or what?" Lee asked, as he walked out of the bathroom in little more than a towel.

As he headed over to his locker, Lex shook her head. "In case you hadn't realised, I haven't got anything else to wear but what I got on." She replied.

"That's okay with me!" Hotdog grinned. "I don't mind if you don't wear clothes!"

Kat turned around and hit him. "Shut up, Hotdog." She snapped.

"You can wear these." Lee said, turning and throwing some clothes at Lex. "They're spares."

Lex raised an eyebrow. "Well thanks. You got a towel too?"

"You can have mine!" Hotdog said, reaching for the one around his waist.

Lex laughed and shook her head. "You take that off and I'll hurt you!" she threatened teasingly. "I don't want to see what's under there!"

Kat laughed uproariously at Hotdog's offended expression, before he broke into a grin. Lex took the opportunity to slip into the bathroom and grab a shower. She hadn't showered in a couple of days and she was really looking forward to it. Around ten minutes later she reappeared, feeling much better and probably smelling much better too. Lex was dressed in a spare _Galactica_ uniform of pants and the two tanks most of the crew seemed to strip down to off-duty. She still wore her own boots and knotted her damp hair behind her.

"Now you look like a pilot." Lee grinned when he saw her.

Lex looked down at the clothes she was wearing and hid a grin. "Nah," she said. "I think I look more like a sailor."

Lee laughed. "Very funny." He said. "Now, do what do you say we give her a proper initiation to becoming a _Galactica_ pilot?"

The last comment was directed at the gather pilots. Hotdog grinned. "All right!" he cried.

Still grinning, Lee turned to face Lex. "So, Captain." He said. "You any good at cards?"

Lex raised an eyebrow. "Depends what you want me to do with them." She teased. "But if you mean a card game, then I'm in."

There were a few whoops of excitement, mainly from Hotdog, before Lee left to gather Dee and Gaeta to join them. Apparently their shifts had ended and were regulars at Lee's games. As Lex stood there, a little bemused but glad that it had been so easy to make friends with the pilots, Kat walked up to her. She, too, was dressed in pants and tanks, with hexagonal tags hanging around her throat. It was just one of the small differences between the _Galactica_ and the _Prometheus_, that was familiar all the same.

"Prepare to be fleeced." Kat told her after a moment. "Lee's the second best player in the fleet."

"Oh?" Lex asked. "Who's the best."

"Starbuck." Kat answered after a slight pause. "She's another pilot…or was. She trained me. I was once a civilian pilot, not military. But, she ah…went back home."

Sensing there was a story here, but not wanting to push Kat after seeing the shadows in her eyes, Lex asked her next question as casually as she could. "Went home?"

"Back to Caprica." Kat said. "If you want the details, you're better off asking Apollo. He and Starbuck were pretty close."

Storing that information away for later, Lex smiled when she saw Lee return with Gaeta and Dee. Minutes later they were all settled around a table and Lee was shuffling a pack of cards. "You ready for this?" he asked Lex.

"Bring it on." Lex replied with a grin.

* * *

"Alright, Mac." Jack said into his radio. "Beam us straight to the Doc."

Jack and his companions from the _Prometheus_, as well as all the Colonial survivors on Caprica were standing in a grassy meadow not far from the caves. In the brighter light of afternoon, as opposed to the dimly lit caves, Jack could see that the survivors really were a bedraggled lot. Not one of them did not sport at least a few rips in their clothing and almost everyone was smeared with dirt. He noticed Kara and Helo gave him funny looks as he spoke into his radio, as if not sure what he was doing.

"Yes, sir." Came Mac's crackling reply. "Should I have anyone waiting for you?"

"Only yourself." Jack replied. "And let the Doc know we're coming."

"Yes, sir." Mac said. "Transporting now."

Jack felt the familiar tingling sensation and found himself standing in the _Prometheus'_ infirmary a second later. He smiled when he saw the awed and astonished faces of Kara and the other survivors. Instantaneous travelling like that took a bit of getting used to, as Jack knew well. He couldn't count the times he had broken off mid-sentence in surprise, suddenly finding himself standing in the middle of the bridge on Thor's ship. Although, that might also have something to do with the Asgard's lack of warning.

The infirmary looked just like it always had, and strangely similar to the one back at the SGC. Over the years few things had changed, except for the technology. As a result, the infirmary sometimes looked like a cross between Daniel's office (filled with things containing strange symbols) or Carter's lab (covered in odd pieces of technology and wiring). But it was home to one of the best doctors and one of the bravest people Jack had ever met. Doctor Janet Fraiser-Jackson.

Arching an eyebrow at her old friend, Janet walked across the infirmary. She was wearing the standard U.N.E uniform of boots, green pants and a black T-shirt under her familiar white coat and her hair was pulled into a braid. "General, I told you the radiation meds would only last a few hours."

Jack winced slightly at the reprimand in her tone. Janet had always reminded him of being scolded by his mother when he'd done something wrong, when she used that tone. "Yeah, I know." He shrugged. "But we found some new friends."

"Sir?" It was then that Colonel Mackenzie walked into the infirmary. "You wanted to see me?"

Colonel Mackenzie was a tall, black-haired woman in her late 30's. She wore the standard uniform of boots, green pants and jacket over a black T-shirt, with her rank on the corner of the jacket. She was a pretty woman with a large stubborn streak and a compassionate nature. Her blue eyes looked towards her commanding officer enquiringly, before darting to the large group of people and back.

Jack nodded. "Mac, I need you to run a scan over all the planets in this region for humans." He said, walking forward. "There are eleven more colonies out there with potential human survivors…"

Jack's voice trailed off as he got further and further away, already deep in discussion with the Colonel about what they should do next. Janet shook her head in amusement. "And where do you think you're going, General?" she called. "You know you have to get checked out first."

With a sigh, Jack stopped walking and turned around. With a resigned expression he walked back and sat down on one of the empty beds. "Alright, lets get this over with." He grumbled.

Hiding a smile, Janet nodded. "Yes, sir." She said. "Atkins, examine SG-1 and the Marines."

Another doctor in a white coat nodded, before he turned to the General. Janet watched him for a second, making sure the General wasn't going to give him any trouble, before turning to the group of ragged survivors in front of her. "Right." She muttered. "Time to get to work."

Looking towards a few of the nurses, Janet took stock. "Alright, welcome aboard the _U.N.E.S. Prometheus_. My staff and I are going to check the health of everyone here, so don't worry. You're in good hands." Janet said to the survivors, trying to sound as reassuring as possible. She then directed her next words to the medical staff. "I want them broken up into groups of two or three and given complete medical scans. I want to know everything. And treat everyone for radiation."

The infirmary burst into action as men and women in white coats spread out and began treating their new patients. Janet hovered for a moment, watching what look like chaos to non-medical personnel, before spotting a group of three people conversing quietly. All three were wearing torn and dirty uniforms of some type, drab green in colour. From her years in the Air Force, Janet recognised them as flight suits. These must be some of the military personnel, Janet reflected, thinking back to her quick briefing of the situation.

Out of the three, the blonde woman seemed to be the most agitated. Her hair was tangled and covered in dirt, but hung to about chin length. Her green eyes seemed to be snapping with anger over something and she seemed to be struggling to keep her voice low. The man and woman she was almost yelling at were standing very close together, and the man had a protective hand around the other woman's waist. The man was tall, with very short brown hair and dark eyes. His companion was about a head shorter than him and looked to be of Asian decent. Her hair was long, but knotted and she had a nasty looking bruise under her left eyes. Stepping towards a computer terminal, Janet used the ship's inbuilt medical sensors to give them a quick scan and once again thanked both the Asgard and Sam's proficiency with alien technology. Ten years ago, something like that would not have been possible.

Waving Lucas over, Janet nodded towards the group and whispered quietly to her son when he was standing beside her. "Is it just me, or is she pregnant?" Janet asked, motioning towards Sharon.

"Pregnant?" Lucas frowned, before looked at the woman more closely. "I can't see anything."

Janet slid a glance towards her son and smiled. "Well then, call it woman's intuition." She said, indicating the brief scan she had just done. "But I think she's pregnant – which is going to have some big repercussions."

Lucas smiled wryly at his mother. "Repercussions?" he asked.

He, like all the medical staff, had been given a quick explanation as to the situation, but Lucas knew his mother would have more information. Aside from being the chief medical officer on the ship, Janet also had a knack of finding things out that no one else knew.

Janet nodded. "She's not entirely human." Once again, she indicated the brief scan. "You can see traces of non-biological material in all her vital systems. I would guess she's a Cylon, but if you ask me, she's pretty much human."

Lucas looked over the scans. "You're right. There's not much about her that isn't human." He sighed. "But she'll be considered the enemy by most Colonial's."

Janet nodded her agreement. "It's her baby I'm worried about."

Lucas gave his mother a reassuring pat on her shoulder. Janet had always had a compassionate heart and it was one of the things that made her an exceptional doctor. "Well, then, just think of Uncle T. He was once an enemy, and now he's a hero of Earth." He told her. "Besides, knowing the General, he might just give her a place here anyway."

Janet smiled at her son. "You're right." She said. "Now shall we get to work?"

Smiling back at her, Lucas followed Janet as she walked over to the group of three. They were still talking furiously, but it seemed Kara's ire had cooled a little. Switching into doctor mode, Janet smiled as the three turned around with wary stares. "It's time to get you checked out." She said. "It's the only way you'll be getting out of my infirmary, so no protests. Lucas, why don't you looked over these two," she indicated Helo and Kara, "while I take…" she looked at Sharon directly.

"Sharon." She introduced. "Lieutenant Sharon Valerii."

"…Sharon." Janet finished with a smile.

"Yes, Doc." Lucas replied with a grin, before his mother led Sharon to a bed a few steps away.

When Helo made to follow, he put his hand to stop him. "Where are you going?"

"Sharon…" Helo began.

"My mother will take good care of her." Lucas interrupted reassuringly. "And you can go and see her the minute I finish making sure you're okay. Now, do either of you have names?"

"Lieutenant Karl C. Agathon." Helo said with a final glance towards Sharon. "But everyone calls me Helo."

"Lieutenant Kara Thrace." Kara replied.

Lucas gave him a small smile. "I thought you were both pilots." He said.

Helo blinked. "You did? But…?"

"How?" Lucas finished. "I live on a spaceship filled with them. In fact, one of my best friends is a pilot."

"Yeah?" Kara said, her voice carrying a little attitude.

Lucas was unperturbed by the slight edge to her tone. "Yeah." He agreed. "Captain Alexandra O'Neill. She's our missing pilot, too, as a matter of fact. Now, can I get you to join Helo on that bed please? It'll go quicker if I can scan you both at once."

Kara made to do as he said, her eyes continually sliding back to where Sharon was sitting. Hiding a smile, Lucas focused on the computer terminal at the base of the bed and initiated the scan. "If your worried about your friend," he said almost absently and without looking up from the screen, "I can assure you that we've seen stranger things that a biomechanical person."

"Biomechanical person?" Helo echoed, while Kara just narrowed her eyes.

Lucas looked up. "Yes." He said. "Primary scans indicated that while Sharon is mostly human, she has some non-biological technology as part of her vital systems. It's not the first time we've seen this, so we're not going to throw her off the ship. In fact, if you think about half the implants available today back on Earth, you can argue that almost everyone's bio-mechanical in some way."

Helo gave him a small smile. "We weren't sure if you were going to treat her fairly." He said.

Lucas gave them both a solemn look. "There's one thing you should know about this infirmary. We treat everyone fairly here, giving them all the treatment they need, no matter what they've done. We don't dispense punishment of judgement. We just treat the injured and sick."

"Besides," Lucas added. "Teal'c, who also happens to be my uncle, was once the First Prime to Apophis, an old enemy of ours. He gave up everything to join us in our fight against Apophis and those like him – and he's now one of the best known heroes on Earth. We won't treat you friend any different to anyone else until she does something to hurt us."

Kara smiled wryly. "If this was _Galactica_, she might already be dead."

Lucas slanted her a look as he read the scans. "She is more your enemy that ours." He remarked. "But I'm sure the General will do everything he can to help her get treated fairly."

There was a moment of silence as Lucas finished reading the scans. "Well, you both look reasonably healthy. I'll treat you for some radiation exposure and that should be enough. Are either of you feeling nauseous or abnormally tired?"

Both Kara and Helo shook there heads. "Good." Lucas replied.

After giving both the two pilots an injection, he motioned to Helo he was free to go. The man immediately jumped up and walked over to where Sharon was still being treated by Janet. "He's the father, isn't he?" Lucas remarked as he watched the other man.

Kara looked surprised for a moment, before recovering. "What of it?" she replied.

Lucas smiled. "Nothing." He said. "Just an observation. Now, how long ago did you injure your knee?"

"My knee?" Kara echoed. "About five or six months."

Lucas nodded, looking back over the scans. "You've still got some ligament damage." He said. "If you like, I can try and repair it for you."

An expression of relief mixed with gratitude formed on Kara's face. "Thank you." She said.

"No problem." Lucas replied. "It's my job."

About fifteen minutes later, Jack strode back into the infirmary, just as Lucas was finishing treating Kara's knee. He headed straight for Kara and Lucas, motioning Janet over as he walked. "So how's things going down here?" he asked as soon as they were gathered together.

"Fine." Janet replied. "We've treated all the survivors for radiation exposure and dealt with the few minor injuries. But there is something else."

"Nothing good ever follows those words, Doc." Jack said. "It's like whenever Danny says things can't get any worse, they always do."

Trying to frown inside of smile at her old friend's wry comment, Janet said. "Lieutenant Valerii, our Cylon, is pregnant."

Jack blinked in surprise. "Oh, boy." He said. "Do we know who the father is?"

"Now, wait a minute…" Kara interrupted.

"Lieutenant Agathon." Janet replied.

Jack just shook his head. "This is going to be a nightmare." He muttered. "We'll deal with that problem when we finally find the _Battlestar Galactica_." Jack added in a louder voice. "And don't worry, we'll do the best we can for your friend."

He said the last to Kara. "Now are you ready to help us find _Galactica_?" he asked her.

"Yes, sir." Kara replied.

"Good." Jack said, seconds before a warning tone sounded.

"_Warning, incoming fighter squadron of unknown origins_." Sam's voice echoed over the internal comm. system. "_General O'Neill to the bridge_."

"For crying out loud!" Jack growled. "Let's go!"

To Be Continued…


	8. Plans and Meetings

Author's Note: Thanks guys, for all your patience and reviews! Both are very much appreciated and I'll try and post the next chapters every week or so. And I do plan on finishing this story, so don't worry, I might just be a little slower than I would like!

Cheeky.

* * *

The Thirteenth Colony:

Chapter Seven:

By cheeky-chaos

Jack stared at the scene out the large window before him. Ships reminiscent of Gould gliders swooped and fired at the _Interceptors_ who had flown out to meet them. The pilots' chatter filled the almost silent bridge. The Cylon ships had the same pulsing red slit for eyes as there more humanoid counterparts that Jack had met back on Caprica.

"Definitely Cylons." Kara said from where she stood just behind Jack's chair.

"That's what I thought." Jack agreed. Then he turned to Sam, who was back at her communications post. "Tell the Doc to send Lieutenant Valerii up here."

"Yes, General." Sam said and the pair shared a smile as his rank slipped out automatically.

"You can take the girl out of the Air Force, but you can't take the Air Force out of the girl." Sam muttered.

Jack's smile widened into a quick grin as he overheard the comment. "Wouldn't want it any other way." He replied quietly and Sam blushed slightly.

Jack then twisted in his seat so he could see Kara. "Is there anyone else who might know anything about the Cylons?" he asked.

"Only Helo, sir." Kara answered.

Jack gave a wry smile. "Well, he'll be a step behind Lieutenant Valerii, so I assumed he'd be coming anyway."

Kara smiled back. "You're probably right,"

Jack nodded and turned his attention back towards the fight outside. "Captain Woodward, can you help out our _Interceptors_ from here?" he asked.

"Yes, sir." Woodward replied, immediately beginning to target the Cylon _Raiders_.

Efficiently, the man began targeting the outlying _Raiders_, catching them away from the _Interceptors_. The Cylons soon gave up chasing the _Interceptors_, seeing the _Prometheus_ as a more dangerous enemy, but the shield technology built into the _Prometheus_ protected her from most harm. The battle was short and quick, the Cylons all being destroyed within minutes at the combined force of the _Prometheus_ and her _Interceptors._

"Good shooting, Captain." Jack remarked.

"Thank you, sir." Woodward replied.

It was at that moment that Lieutenant Sharon Valerii and Lieutenant Karl C. Agathon entered the bridge, accompanied by a Marine. As soon as his charges were through the door, the Marine saluted smartly and left. "You wanted to see us, sir?" Helo asked, a little tentative.

Jack nodded, trying to suppress a smile at Helo's slight emphasis on the word _us._ "Yes, I did."

He turned to Sam. "Tell Teal'c, Daniel and Colonel Mackenzie to meet me in my office." Jack ordered, getting up to leave. "Oh, and you'd better come too. Might need your knowledge about doohickies."

Sam ducked her head in order to hide a smile at her husband's teasing. He was always going on about her 'doohickies', never mind the fact that he was riding around in one if you wanted to get technical. "Yes, General." She replied and got down to the task at hand.

"Right." Jack said, now standing and looking at the three Colonial officers in front of him. "You three, come with me."

Ten minutes later, Jack was sitting behind his large desk with Kara, Helo, Sharon and Colonel Mackenzie all gathered around on the opposite side. Sam had snuck in about a minute ago and had grabbed a seat next to her husband. Teal'c was the next to show up, inclining his head toward Jack in greeting as he always did, before silently sitting down on Jack's other side. Leaning back in his chair, Jack turned to his wife. "How long do you think it will take Daniel to get here?" he whispered.

"Jack." Sam admonished, half seriously. "You know he gets here as fast as he can."

The pair shared a grin, taking any sting out of the words, because they both knew their friend did indeed try his best to hurry to these meetings. Daniel's flaw, unfortunately, was that he was easily distracted and tended to loose track of time. It was just at that moment that Daniel did indeed join his friends. "Sorry I'm late!" he apologised as he juggled several files and a cup of coffee.

Jack just shook his head slightly. "Okay." He said. "Let's get things started. Where do we stand with finding the other Colonies?"

Mac straightened, as it had been her job to look for them and gather information. "We've just found all eleven, sir." She said. "They were right where they were supposed to be. Preliminary scans show humans on seven of them and with your permission we'll start plotting a course immediately."

Jack nodded. "Of course, Mac." He said. "Just make sure you double check all those planets. I don't want to leave anyone out there I don't have to."

"Yes, sir." Mac replied.

"Right." Jack said. "Now comes the hard part. It seems the Cylons already know where we are and I'd judge it's only a matter of time before they figure out who we are. So we need to find the _Battlestar Galactica_ as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir." Kara replied. "And we could really use your help. But…"

"…there's Lieutenant Valerii to worry about." Jack finished for her. "Yes, I know."

He turned to Sharon. "As far as I'm concerned, you've proven to want to help the humans on Caprica more than you want to help the other Cylons destroy them." He said seriously. "But you harm any member of my crew and that belief stops and you will face my Fleet as well as the Colonials."

"That being said," Jack continued. "I am equally aware that the humans on _Battlestar Galactica_ might not be as willing to see past your differences. So I'm offering you a deal. Continue to help us destroy any Cylon threat and you will have a place here, for you and your child."

"You're asking me to help you destroy my entire race." Sharon said softly. "For my life."

"No." Jack disagreed. "I'm not out to destroy your entire race, unless they prove that that's the only way to stop them destroying mine."

"Perhaps I can offer some advice, Lieutenant Valerii." Teal'c interjected. "I, too, was once an enemy of Earth, before I chose to fight along side the Tau'ri. I am responsible for killing many Jaffa, but when I could I offered them a choice to join me. Perhaps you can do the same."

"But the Cylon believe that all humans should be killed." Sharon pointed out. "How can I ask them to join those they have been brought up to kill?"

"Not all Cylons believe that humans should be killed." Daniel commented. "You don't believe it anymore. So why should we assume that all Cylons don't question that same belief?"

Sharon blinked in surprise, obviously never having thought about that before. Kara, too, looked surprised at the mention, her green eyes narrowed. Suddenly Sharon smiled, and it lit up her face. "If I can try to save my people, I will." She said.

"Good." Jack said. "Now, can we protect the _Prometheus_ from the Cylons in the mean time? We'll need to send an update to the Fleet and SGC."

Sam nodded, probably one of the most knowledgeable people in the room when it came to the capability of the Fleet in defending itself. "We shouldn't have a problem, General." She said. "From what I've seen of Cylon technology, the _Prometheus_ and the rest of the Fleet can cope."

"We'll have to send some _BC-303's_ to some of the outer lying planets, though." Mac added. "Keep a protective net around Tau'ri Space, in case those Cylons decide to attack a planet."

Sighing, Jack rubbed his hand over his face. "Okay." He said and turned to face Daniel. "Now for the hard part. Danny, do you think you can argue on Lieutenant Valerii's behalf if the Colonial's decide to harm her?"

Daniel blinked at Jack. "Argue?" he echoed. "Jack, I'm an archaeologist, not a lawyer!"

"You're also one of the best diplomats we've got." Jack replied. "I've seen you do tougher things than this. I need you to act diplomatically."

Daniel sighed, knowing he was going to do it. "Yeah, well, we can't exactly let you do it, can we?" he said teasingly, as Jack was one of the least diplomatic people he knew.

"Exactly." Jack said. "Good, sorted. Lieutenant Valerii, I'd like you and Dr. O'Neill here to go over all Cylon technology you know of so that we'll at least have an idea of what the Cylons can throw at us. Mac, collect those survivors as quick as you can. Daniel…"

"…Finish analysing the origins of the Colonial culture in regards to Earth, try and find something about the Cylon religion and its divine plan and find a way to diplomatically greet a warship that probably wants to do harm Lieutenant Valerii." Daniel interrupted. "Got it. Was there anything else?"

"No, I think you got it all." Jack said with a slight smile, before fixing Kara with a piercing stare. "And Lieutenant Thrace, you're going to help me find the _Galactica_."

* * *

Lex stared at the glass of ambrosia in front of her. The card game had been fun, but had managed to descend into drink, cigars and giggles. Most of the cards were scattered around the table and floor, forgotten, as Lex regaled the rest of them about Earth and the others replied with stories about the Colonies. They were still in the pilots mess, but now those who hadn't already had stripped down to their tanks and everyone was more sprawled in their chairs than sitting in them.

"It's green." She said.

"It's good." Lee countered.

"Come on, Captain!" Gaeta replied. "Drink!"

"Drink! Drink!" Hotdog began to chant.

"If you drink it," Lee persuaded, "I'll tell you where Gaeta has a tattoo…"

Gaeta shot Lee a dark look. "If you drink it, I'll tell you about the time Captain Apollo got caught doing something inappropriate in a _Viper_."

Lex laughed. "Oh, I'd love to hear about those."

Still grinning, she raised the glass to toast everyone at the table, before taking a large sip, as she had been dared to about five minutes ago. Barely keeping from spluttering, Lex held her breath as the liquid burnt a trail of fire down her throat. When she could finally speak again, she was a little surprised to hear the hoarseness of her voice. "Wow." She said. "That's worse than my Dad's whisky."

"Yeah, it's strong stuff." Lee agreed, reaching for a bottle. "But if you really want to kill you brain cells, you should try the Chief's hooch."

He filled her glass with a more clear looking liquid and Lex raised an eyebrow at him. "Now, wasn't there talk on filling me in on a few dirty secrets?" she asked sweetly.

Everyone laughed and Hotdog and Dee let out a few teasing calls. Lex picked up her glass and stared at the liquid, before piercing Lee with a direct stare. "But I'd rather hear about Starbuck." She added.

Lee immediately quieted and Gaeta and Dee gave him wary looks. "What about her?" he asked.

Lex set her glass back down on the table. "Well, who is she?" she asked. "I've heard her mentioned as one of the best pilots in the Colonies."

"She's not one of the best, she is the best." Lee replied, his tone quieter than it had been a few minutes ago. Taking his cigar out of his mouth, he rolled it around in his fingers for a second, before looking back at Lex. "Starbuck was _Galactica's_ lead pilot and the best we had. About three weeks ago, she disobeyed a direct order and jumped back to Caprica. No one's said exactly why, but the rumour is that she went in search of something called 'the Arrow of Apollo' to lead us back to Earth – on the orders of the President."

Lex nodded, understanding the slight resentment and sadness in Lee's eyes, as well as the respect. "And?" she asked with an arch of her eyebrow, also knowing there was more to the story.

"The Captain was sweet on her." Hotdog replied in the silence, having had a little too much to drink to be prudent. "And why not? She had an ass…"

"You won't finish that sentence!" Kat growled at him.

Lex looked directly at Lee, and didn't join in as Gaeta and Dee started teasing Kat and Hotdog about her comment. Lee gave her a half-smile as she read the truth in his eyes. "You love her." Lex said softly.

"Yeah." Lee replied, taking a large drink of the Chief's hooch. "She just doesn't love me. And I'm the CAG. It's against regulations."

"Can I tell you a story?" Lex asked him.

Blinking in the seemingly quick change of topic, Lee gave her a small smile. "Sure." He said. "Does it involve any of your dirty secrets?"

"Not exactly." Lex replied. "It's more like a fairy tale. Once upon a time, there was a tough Colonel. He was the leader of a team who explored space and protected their home planet from being destroyed by their enemies. The Colonel had lost much in his life, including his only son, and his days were dark."

By now, the rest of the table had stopped talking and teasing and was listening to the story as well. "But there were two spots of brightness. One was the friendships he had built with his team. The other was his 2IC, who he was secretly in love with. The beautiful Major was smart and brave and had saved the world many times by his side. The Colonel loved her so much he would rather sacrifice himself than see harm come to her."

Lex smiled slightly when she saw the wrapt attention of her audience, before continuing. "For seven long years they fought together, side-by-side, and finding the other when all hope for their rescue was lost. But never once did the Colonel reveal his feelings, for they were against regulations and he was fearful they might be rejected."

"Then the Major became engaged to another man and the Colonel feared all hope was lost. Wanting the woman he loved to be happy, the Colonel buried his feelings deep, resigning himself to letting her go. What he did not realise was that the Major loved him as much as he loved her, but was too scared to tell him."

"So one day, the friends of the Colonel and Major, who had also fought by their sides and knew they deep feelings they had for one another, locked them in a tower and forced them to admit their feelings. Before long, the brave Major retired to become a civilian and married the Colonel and they lived happily ever after…well, more or less."

Lex grinned in the silence that followed her little fairy tale. "The moral of that story?" Lex said. "Sometimes risks pay off and love really does conquer the most stubborn of people."

"Who were they?" Lee asked.

"My parents." Lex answered.

"Wow." Hotdog said. "Were they really locked in a tower?"

Lex shook her head, chuckling a little. "Nah, it was a supply closet, actually."

Everyone laughed, but Lex could see the speculation in Lee's eyes. Satisfied that she had given him the push he needed, and resolving to beat up this Starbuck, best pilot of the Colonies or not, if she broke his heart, Lex settled back in her chair and took a drink of the Chief's hooch. It was strong and raw, but not quite as bad as the ambrosia had been.

It was then that there was a knock at the door and one of the Marines stuck his head inside. "Captain Adama and Captain O'Neill?" he asked. "Sirs, Colonel Tigh and the President request your presence in the Commander's office."

* * *

"I always feel like I don't belong here." Colonel Tigh said, as Lex looked about the room. "I shouldn't be the one giving orders in here."

Lee gave the older man a reassuring smile. "I always felt exactly the same." He said.

The room was large considering the cramped quarters in the rest of the ship and all available space was taken up by books, a large desk and pictures of _Vipers_ covered the walls. On the desk was a large picture of a dark haired man with blue eyes standing next to Lee and a younger man that looked just like both of them. Lex recognised the dark haired man from the infirmary and could see that the three of them were a family.

"My father." Lee said softly from beside her. "Commander Adama. And my brother Zak. He died about three years ago."

"I'm sorry." Lex said, before turning and wandering a little more. "Mine's a General."

Lee and Tigh blinked in confusion. "Your what?" Tigh asked.

Lex turned to face them. "My father." She answered. "He's a General."

Before Lee or Tigh could say anything in reply, the President walked in followed by her aide, Billy. Lex recognised the woman from the questioning session that she had gone through when she first arrived on the _Galactica_. Her aide, Billy, was a young man with brown hair and eyes and wearing a slightly crumpled looking suit. Lex didn't hold it against him, because she knew it was probably the only one he had.

"Madam President." Colonel Tigh greeted, Lee echoing his words a second later.

"Ma'am." Lex said.

Laura returned the greetings, before urging everyone to sit down as she got straight to the point. "The press are screaming for blood." She said. "Somehow it got out that our mysterious visitor, who was already a news story, know about Earth."

"With all due respect, Madam President." Colonel Tigh answered. "It's not really a military matter."

"It is now." Laura stated. "I want to hold a press conference and introduce Captain O'Neill to the rest of the Fleet."

"You what?" Colonel Tigh snapped, as Lex blinked in surprise.

"I believe you heard me, Colonel." Laura replied, a little coldly.

"Madam President, we can't just announce to everyone that we know the location of Earth!" Tigh protested.

"Why not?" Laura asked. "The Cylons have already shown they know about Captain O'Neill's existence, so why not share that with the Fleet? It will give morale a definite boost and we don't want them to think we're hiding anything."

Colonel Tigh sighed. "I just don't want the _Galactica_ turned into a media circus because of this. We already have enough of a problem dealing with everything now."

"That's why I'm proposing to hold the press conference on Cloud Nine." Laura explained. "Perhaps have Captain O'Neill fly over in her ship. Give the press something to write about."

Colonel Tigh sighed again. "Well, I can't stop you Madam President." He said. "But as long as you don't reveal any sensitive information, I don't really have a problem with this."

"Good." Laura said. "I'd like to request the presence of Captain Apollo as well. It would be beneficial to present a united front."

Colonel Tigh simply nodded. Smiling, Laura turned to Lex. "Captain O'Neill, can you be ready tomorrow morning to meet me on Colonial One? We'll go over the plan then."

"Considering I seem to have no other choice," Lex replied dryly. "Yes, ma'am."

* * *

Jack sighed as he sank onto the bed in his quarters. It wasn't the same as the one at home, but it was better than some of the ones he had slept on in the past. Technically, his shift had been over two hours ago, but he was the CO of the ship and a General as well. He had long since given up on the illusion that shifts actually finished when they were supposed to.

"Jack?" Sam voice startled Jack a little as her face popped around the small couch on the other side of the room.

As a General, he managed to score the big rooms, with enough space for a bed, desk and small couch and TV. Of course, you stubbed your toes roughly every ten seconds, but it all fit. "Hey, Sam." He greeted tiredly.

Sam got to her feet and walked over to where he was lying. "I think you've got the right idea, there." She said.

Jack smiled teasingly. "All my ideas are good ones." He said and saw Sam smile in response. "Still going over the Cylon technology?"

"Yeah." Sam said, lying down beside her husband. "Janet sent for Sharon about an hour ago to have another check up, so I've just been going over a few things by myself."

"Any surprises?" Jack asked.

"None we can't deal with." Sam answered.

The pair fell into companionable silence, simply enjoying each others presence and the quietness that they didn't always find on a busy ship. Jack yawned and snuggled deeper into his pillow as Sam curled closer to his side. He smiled softly. "This is nice." He said, his eyes drifting shut.

"Mm hmm." Sam agreed, she too close to sleep.

"Wonder how long it'll take someone to burst through that door?" Jack muttered.

Sam groaned. "Don't say things like that." She replied. "You know what happens to Daniel when he says things like that."

Jack smiled at the memories of his friend getting himself – and others, like Jack – into trouble. "True, but it will happen." He told his wife. "It's the Law of Generals."

Sam forced one eye open. "The Law of Generals?" she asked.

"Yeah. If there's a General anywhere close to you, you have to complain to him or her at least once every day."

Sam groaned. "Very funny, Jack."

"It's true!" Jack protested.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door and Colonel Mackenzie stuck her head around the door. "Sir?" she asked.

"Mac?" Jack struggled into a sitting position, much to Sam's annoyance. He rubbed a tired hand over his face. "What is it?"

Mac stepped into the room. "I thought you might want to know, sir." She said. "We've found the _Battlestar Galactica_."

"Thanks, Mac." Jack said. "I'll be right there."

"Yes, sir." Mac replied.

Jack stifled a yawn and swung his legs over the side of the bed. Rolling his stiff neck, he sighed. "I told you." He muttered.

Getting to his feet, he turned to see his wife also struggling to shake the sleepiness from her head as she pulled on her boots. He smiled, knowing that Sam was not going to be excluded from this, no matter how tired she was. "Shall we go be heroes?" he asked.

Sam turned and gave him a smile. "Yeah." She said. "Let's go be heroes."

To Be Continued...


	9. The Press Conference

Author's Note: Once again, this chapter took longer than I'd have liked. Sorry about that! It seems I've never got as much time as I think I do ;)

I just wanted to say another thank you to everyone who sent me a review! It really makes my day to hear from you, so thanks! Hope you enjoy this chapter and thanks for your patience guys!

Cheeky.

* * *

The Thirteenth Colony:

Chapter Eight:

By cheeky-chaos

Lex smiled as she tilted her head upwards. The artificial sun of _Cloud 9_ warmed her skin, but she thought there was just something about it that didn't feel quite right. Her eyes flickered shut as she sat on the grass, rather happy just to enjoy a moment of peace – particularly after that morning.

The President had requested her presence on _Colonial One _early that morning to go over the plans for today, including the press conference and the celebratory state dinner that evening. Lex was the guest of honour at both. President Roslin had told Lex about the low morale throughout the fleet – especially after Commander Adama had been shot – and that her arrival and appearance would hopefully restore the fleet's faith in the journey they were taking, and their leaders.

The President, much to Colonel Tigh's annoyance, had also confessed that she and Commander Adama had lied to everyone in the fleet and hadn't actually known where Earth was until Lex had shown up. Lex had also been told about the events in the fleet, leading up to an almost coo by the military and Lee's consequential disobeying of orders.

It was quite a history and Lex was almost speechless by the end. But at least now, she had a deeper understanding of the history involved and what the fleet had faces, along with the faith that drove the Colonials' continued search for Earth – whether it was religious like President Roslin or more practical like Colonel Tigh.

Sighing, Lex rolled her neck, trying to relieve her tense muscles. She was not really looking forward to this press conference, as it would be rather like facing a pack of ravenous wolves. Because it was an official appearance, as a U.N.E. pilot, Lex was dressed in her uniform of boots, pants and black T-shirt under her flight suit. Colonel Tigh had even let her bring her weapons aboard and they were strapped to her legs in their usual places.

"Lex?" Lee's voice called from behind her.

Lex opened her eyes and turned to see lee walking through the garden towards her. Lee was wearing his dark blue dress uniform, as he would also be taking part in the press conference. The deep blue of the uniform brought out the blue of his eyes and Lex was struck by how cute her friend actually was. It was almost a pity he was taken, as it were. Besides, Lex rather preferred him as a friend anyway.

"Having fun?" he asked, as he sat down beside her.

Lex smiled. "Just a quiet moment in the sun." she replied. "It's just…"

"…it doesn't feel quite real." Lee finished for her.

"Yeah." Lex agreed.

Lee looked sad. "One day I'd like to feel a real sun on my face again." He remarked.

"We'll be on Earth before you know it." Lex tried to cheer him up a little. "Besides, if I beg my CAG once I get back to the _Prometheus_, I might just be able to sort something out."

Lee gave her a somewhat hopeful look. "There are a lot more Earth-like planets out there than you might think." Lex told him.

He smiled. "Thanks." He said. Sighing softly, he looked at his watch. "The President should be ready for us by now."

Lex sighed too. "I suppose we'd better get this over with." She muttered.

Sharing a commiserating look, the pair got up and walked towards the back of the building where the press conference was being held and where the President would be waiting for them. It was one of the reasons that _Cloud 9_ had been chosen to hold the conference, as it was one of the largest rooms in the fleet. _Cloud 9_ was also the seat of Colonial government, housing the Quorim of Twelve and a great place for a state dinner.

The President looked up as they entered the room. She was seated at a large desk going over a few last minute details, Billy at her side. She smiled and took off her glasses when she saw them. "I'm glad you're here." She said. "Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." Lex replied.

"Good, because they're baying for blood out there." Billy said, sounding a little stressed.

Laura nodded. "We've already had one round of reports go out this morning." She said. "They claimed this was all a hoax and that Captain O'Neill didn't actually exist."

She then gave them all a small smile. "I'm actually looking forward to proving them wrong."

Lex shared a smile with her. "I can understand that." She breathed out slowly. "Okay, tell me again, what do I need to know?"

"Keep the answers to your questions short and move on." Laura told her reassuringly. "Press conferences are not as scary as you think."

"They always seemed to be when my Dad held one." Lex replied, then gave a small smile of amusement. "Of course, that might say more about my Dad than the press."

Laura raised an eyebrow. "I look forward to meeting him."

"So do I." Lee agreed quietly.

Lex gave a short chuckle. "Oh, you might change you mind once you meet him." She said. "Or not." She added with a wink.

Composing themselves, the group arranged themselves, with Laura in front and Lee and Billy slightly behind her. "You'd better enter beside me, Captain." She said to Lex.

"Yes, ma'am." Lex answered.

Taking her place beside Laura, and breathing in deeply, Lex squared her shoulders and prepared to meet the press. As soon as she stepped through the door, she was almost overwhelmed by the sudden surge of noise as everyone began to ask questions rapidly. Cameras and microphones were thrust towards her and there was even the occasional flash of a standard camera. Carefully, Lex followed Laura to where the podium had been set up and the President was introduced.

Keeping to her place beside the President, Lex stood tall and straight as she stared down the press and listened to Laura give her speech. "Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for coming today." She began, and the rapid-fire questions gradually faded away as the press began to listen. "I have called this press conference today for a special reason. I know that you have all speculated and listened to the rumours, but hopefully you will all be willing to listen to the truth."

"Almost a week ago, the _Battlestar Galactica_ detected an unknown ship jumping into space not far from the fleet. The pilot of that ship was Captain Alexandra O'Neill." Laura continued, indicating Lex. "Captain O'Neill has been of great help to us, but perhaps the most valuable thing she has given us is hope, as she has proven that our decision and our faith are soon to be rewarded. Captain Alexandra O'Neill was born on the Thirteenth Colony. On Earth."

Laura's words were met with silence for a moment, as if everyone had to pause and absorb what she had just said before she could say anything. Taking her cue, Lex stepped up to the podium so she could help answer question that the press would begin to fire at her as soon as they were able.

A second later they did just that. "Captain, is that true? Are you really from Earth?"

"Can you prove you origins, Captain?"

"What's Earth like?"

"How far away is the Thirteenth Colony, Captain?"

"Madame President, how can you be sure that this is not just some twisted Cylon plot?"

Laura held up her hand. "Perhaps we should try that again, this time with the questions one at a time?" It was more an order than a suggestion and it took a few minutes for the press to quiet down enough for them to obey. "And before you ask again, both Colonel Tigh and I are convinced of Captain O'Neill's origins and no, this is not some sort of Cylon plot."

This is where Billy took over and began pointing at the journalists who were able to ask a question. At Billy's indication, a tall woman stood. "Captain O'Neill, can you tell us what Earth is like?"

Nodding, Lex leaned a little closer to the microphone on the podium, once again a little amazed at how much like Earth this society seemed. "Do you want the scientific version?" she joked. "The Earth is the third planet in a singular star system. It is also a beautiful place, filled with many continents and countries and a diverse population. And from what I've heard, not too different from the Colonies."

"How did you come to find the _Battlestar Galactica_, Captain?"

"Completely by accident." Lex said. "I was hit by a large plasma blast during a battle and separated from my ship. I wound up where the _Galactica_ found me."

"Captain, did you say battle? And what is the ship you were separated from?"

"Yes, I did. The ship I came from is rather like the _Galactica_. We call her the _U.N.E.S. Prometheus_." Lex said, carefully avoiding mentioning the whole Goa'uld history, as the press would no doubt find out sooner or later anyway and she would rather someone else try to explain it.

"_U.N.E.S_?"

"That would be the United Nations of Earth." Laura replied for Lex, deflecting the press' attention for a moment.

"Madam President, does that mean we are going to meet up with the _U.N.E.S. Prometheus_?"

"Yes." Laura replied graciously, as if she did this all the time. "Together with Captain Adama and Colonel Tigh, Captain O'Neill will be setting up a rendevouz."

Suddenly, it was as if Lee was discovered by the press and Lex almost envisioned them pouncing on him. And even he was not exempt from the questions and soon had some directed at him. It was one of the reasons that the President had asked him to be a part of the conference. The other was to show the _Galactica's_ support by being present.

"Captain Apollo, is it true that Captain O'Neill has been flying with the _Galactica's_ squadron?"

"Yes, Captain O'Neill is a gifted pilot and has been a welcome addition to the squadron." Lee said, his tone and words very diplomatic.

"Has she engaged the Cylons yet?"

Lee nodded. "Captain O'Neill has come into contact with the Cylons, yes."

It was then that President Roslin drew a halt to the rapid fire questions. "You'll find a media release in the press packets being handed out to you, and I'm sure Captain O'Neill will be quite happy to answer some more questions at the dinner this evening, but that's all we have time for right now."

Billy, Laura, Lee and Lex all withdrew back into the small room of the main one and away from the press. "Always leave them wanting more." Laura said with a small smile.

"So was that it?" Lex asked. "They always seem much longer on TV."

Laura nodded. "Now we wait for the afternoon reports to come out."

Lex let out a large sigh of relief. "Thank goodness that's over." She said.

"I agree." Lee replied in the same weary tone.

Laura looked amused. "You've still got the dinner tonight." She said. "Captain Apollo, as much as I appreciate you running the security, I do hope you'll take a moment this evening to answer a few questions or perhaps dance a little."

"Yes, ma'am." Lee replied, trying to hide a smile.

* * *

Lex breathed a sigh of relief as she found a dark corner to hide in. She was glad that was over – and she had thought the press conference had been hard! So far that evening, she had listened to hundreds of speeches, answered thousands of questions, been danced with, trampled, talked at and generally annoyed. She was a pilot for crying out loud! She flew fighters, not dance with politicians!

That was not mentioning her outfit of the evening. How they had managed to find it all, Lex didn't know, but somehow the President had assembled a dress, heels and shoes fit for a guest of honour at a state dinner. As a result, Lex was squashed into a dress that was a little too tight and showed off a little too much, even if the deep red was a great colour on her, her toes were being pinched by the unfamiliar heels and Lex was wearing far too much makeup for her liking.

"You look like you need a drink." A voice commented from beside her in the shadowy corner.

Startled, Lex turned to find the Presidents aide, Billy, standing next to her. He wore a suit and looked quite dashing, apart from the stressed look on his face. "So do you." Lex said with a smile.

Billy smiled back. "I feel like one too. If one more politician asks me the President's opinion on anything…"

Lex chuckled. "I know the feeling. I think I've talked more about Earth in the past hour than I had for the rest of my life!"

The pair fell into companionable silence and turned to watch the dance floor with all its brightly coloured dancers. A few minutes later, Lex spotted a figure weaving her way through the crowd and smiled when she recognised Dee. She made her way straight to their shadowy corner and Billy. "I thought I'd find you here." She told him.

"Hi." Billy said, simultaneously sounding eager to see her yet awkward.

"Hey, Dee." Lex greeted.

"Captain." Dee replied, before turning her attention back to Billy. "Care to dance?"

"Yeah, I'd like that." Billy replied.

Smiling, Lex watched the pair move out onto the crowded dance floor. They were quite cute, and as Lex spotted several others taking an interest, realised she wasn't the only one to think so. "You're not hiding are you?" Lee sounded amused as he walked up to her.

"Of course not." Lex replied.

Lee just smiled. "Had enough dancing?" he asked.

Lex nodded. "I don't think my feet can take any more." She joked.

Sharing a glance, the pair shared a laugh. Unfortunately, that seemed to catch the attention of a group of men in suits, who wondered straight over once they realised who it was. "Captain O'Neill!" One of them greeted.

Lex sent Lee a desperate look. Hiding a grin at her predicament, Lee took pity on her and came to her rescue. "I'm sorry gentlemen, but Captain O'Neill has promised me a dance." In a quick movement, he swept her away from them and out onto the dance floor.

"Thanks." Lex said gratefully. "I'm not sure I could have been polite much longer."

"No problem." He said.

The pair danced for a little while, before Lex spotted a group of new arrivals that looked very familiar. "Looks like the rest of the squadron decided to join us." She said.

Watching over Lee's shoulder, Lex saw Gaeta move over to greet Hotdog, Crashdown and Kat. Wanting a look himself, Lee spun her around so he could look in the direction she had. "So they have." He agreed.

Laughing and joking, the group made there way over the now thinning dance floor to where Lee and Lex were. "Captain O'Neill!" Hotdog greeted enthusiastically, giving her a definite once over.

Kat poked him in the ribs. "Hotdog." Lex replied. "I'm trying to dance here."

It was then that Billy and Dee danced over to join them. "It seems here is where all the fun is." Billy remarked.

"What does that mean?" Dee asked him.

"Oh…ah, nothing. Well…" Billy stuttered.

Everyone laughed and Billy bore the brunt of their teasing remarks, which of course led to teasing and jokes about Lee and Lex dancing. Shooting Lex a sidelong glance, Lee threw an arm over her shoulders and an arm over Dee's, who was on the other side of him. "How about we take this party back aboard the _Galactica_?" he asked.

"Sounds like a plan." Lex agreed.

The group moved off, but Billy hung back, looking towards the President. "Ah…" he began.

As if sensing her aide's hesitation, Laura turned around from where she was conversing with some of the members of the Quorim and nodded to Billy, smiling. "Go." She mouthed.

Dee turned back around. "Billy, are you coming?"

"Yeah." Billy said with a grin.

* * *

Somehow, the group ended up on the flight deck, generally making a nuisance of themselves. They were gradually joined by the Chief and a few deckhands as soon as they got off shift and Lex had managed to dig a little music player out of her fighter, not entirely sure why it was in there, but grateful all the same. All in all, they were having quite a party of it.

Lex had grabbed Gaeta and was busy dancing with the slightly tipsy Lieutenant to one of her favourite rock songs. The music had startled the Colonials for a second, having both never heard music from Earth before (despite the similarities to Colonial music) and not having heard much music at all recently.

The Chief, Lee, Cally, one of the deck crew, Dee and Billy where busy with a game of pyramid, stopping every second or so to tease Lex and Gaeta or to joke with Kat, Hotdog and Crashdown who were sprawled all over Lex's fighter, talking. Lee and the others playing pyramid were seating on the hanger floor under one of the wings, a bottle of the Chief's hooch close by.

Just then, the song broke into the chorus and Lex burst into song, singing along loudly, before breaking off into a fit of giggles when everyone turned around and looked at her strangely. "You're singing!" Hotdog called.

"Yes, I am!" Lex called back, before belting out another verse.

Tossing down his cards amidst his laughter, Lee stood and walked over to where she was now dancing with herself, Gaeta having decided to sit down. "I think you've had a bit too much to drink of the Chief's hooch." He told her.

Sobering in seconds, Lex shook her head. "Actually, I'm quite sober." She said. "I'm just happy."

Realising she was right, and she was still sober (but perhaps only just), Lee smiled. "Happy?"

"Yeah." Lex nodded. "I've made some great new friends. That's a good reason to be happy in my book."

Lee looked thoughtful for a moment. "You know what?" he said. "You're right."

Lex grinned teasingly at him. "Always am!"

Within the laughter and joking echoing through the hanger, Lee heard someone clear their throat and turned around. He was a little surprised to see two Marines standing there. "Can I help you, Corporal?" he asked.

"Yes, sir." The Marine replied. "Colonel Tigh requests your presence in the CIC, along with Captain O'Neill, Lieutenant Gaeta and Petty Officer Dualla. An unknown ship has just appeared off the port side."

Thankfully, both Gaeta and Dee remained in their uniforms, but Lex shrugged. She was still in the dress she had worn to the party and that would have to do. The four of them set off at a brisk pace for the CIC, straightening up their uniforms as they went.

Colonel Tigh looked up as soon as they entered. "Gaeta, Dee, I need you to cover your positions. I think your ship just found us."

The last was directed straight at Lex and she raised her eyebrows in surprise, just as a transmission echoed over the comm., making her grin.

"This is General Jack O'Neill of the _U.N.E.S. Prometheus_." Came a very familiar voice to Lex. "We're looking for the _Battlestar Galactica_."

To Be Continued…


	10. Galactica meets Prometheus

Author's Note: Here's the next chapter, guys. Hope it didn't take too long. I just want to say a HUGE thank you to all of you who reviewed. It was so awesome! Feel free to continue ;)

Cheeky.

* * *

The Thirteenth Colony:

Chapter Nine:

By cheeky-chaos

"This is General Jack O'Neill of the _U.N.E.S. Prometheus_." Came a very familiar voice to Lex. "We're looking for the _Battlestar Galactica_."

The announcement was met with complete silence and a few startled faces in the _Galactica's_ CIC. Dee raced over to the comm. and picked up her headset. "_U.N.E.S Prometheus_, this is the _Battlestar Galactica_." She replied.

"Good. You're one hard ship to find." Jack answered. "Can I speak to the _Galactica's_ commander?"

Colonel Tigh picked up one of the handsets near him. "Inform the President." He ordered Dee. Then he spoke into the handset. "This is Colonel Tigh."

"I was under the impression that Commander Adama was in control of the _Galactica_." Jack replied.

Tigh looked a little surprised at the remark. As if sensing that, Jack added. "We've found a missing crew member of yours, along with about 100 survivors."

"Who is it?" Tigh snapped, not liking where this discussion seemed to be heading and his suspicions growing. "The missing crew member?"

"Lieutenant Kara Thrace." Jack answered.

At the mention of her name, Colonel Tigh narrowed his eyes. "Unfortunately, Commander Adama is unavailable." He told Jack, his tone a little cold. "I'm acting as Commander of the _Galactica_."

"Well then, Colonel Tigh, I request permission to transport myself and two officers aboard the _Galactica_." Jack asked in a formal tone.

After a moments consideration, Tigh replied. "Permission granted. Direct your ship to the port side hanger, General."

"That won't be necessary."

Lex heard the amusement in her father's voice and frowned, fearing the worst. What was he going to do? She found out seconds later, when he appeared in a flash of light just inside the door to the CIC, Daniel and Lucas with him and all of them in full uniform.

"Colonel Tigh?" Jack asked, looking towards the centre of the room.

Tigh, like the others in the CIC were all standing in shock at the sudden appearance of Jack, Daniel and Lucas. Everyone except Lex, that is. She was used to her father's quirky theatrics by now and also had the benefit of having seen and used transporter technology before.

Colonel Tigh recovered quickly, hand hovering near his gun. "General O'Neill?" he barked. "How did you do that?"

Jack shot him a quick grin. "Alien technology." He said. "I'm afraid, if you want the details, you'll have to ask my wife. I'm not much of a scientist."

"Alien?" Tigh echoed, clearly taken aback by everything that had happened over the last few minutes.

"Yeah." Jack answered. "Long story."

Tigh let out his breath slowly, before glancing towards Daniel and Lucas. The expression on his face clearly said he expected Cylons to jump out at him any second now. "Allow me to introduce Dr. Daniel Jackson and Captain Lucas Jackson, one of my ship's doctors." Jack said.

"Can I ask why you tried to find us?" Tigh asked bluntly.

"I'm trying to find a missing crew member." Jack told him. "A pilot. Her last transmission indicated that she had found you. While searching for her, we stumbled across Lieutenant Thrace."

It was then that Lucas, who had been looking around the room as Jack spoke, spotted Lex. His eyes widened and he blinked, before grinning. Letting out a low whistle, he looked her slowly up and down. "Nice dress, Lexie!" he called.

Lex shot him an annoyed look. "Captain?" Jack asked, turning towards her, a surprised look on her face.

Straightening her shoulders, Lex saluted. "Sir." She replied.

Colonel Tigh arched an eyebrow and sent Jack a dry look. "I take it you just found your missing pilot, General?"

"Yeah." Jack replied. "Why aren't you in uniform, Captain?"

"Long story, sir." Lex said, mimicking Jack's earlier dry tone.

Before anything else could be said between them, Dee turned and spoke to Colonel Tigh. "The President has just arrived, sir." She said.

"Tell her to meet us in Commander Adama's office." Tigh ordered.

"Yes, sir." Dee replied.

Then Tigh shot a look straight at Jack. It was neither hostile nor friendly. "There's a lot that needs to be explained." He said.

"There is." Jack agreed. "I'd appreciate a word with my pilot before we begin."

"As would I." Tigh replied, meaning Starbuck.

* * *

Jack stared across the table at Colonel Tigh. He knew his gaze was cold, as Daniel kept sending him curious and increasingly worried looks. But it was hard not to be angry at the man opposite him after his treatment of Jack's daughter. Jack knew that, as a commander, he should be fairer of Colonel Tigh, as he was just doing his best to protect his people – and if he was a little biased in his treatment of the Cylons and potential Cylons, who could blame him? They had destroyed almost his entire world. 

But to Jack, Lex would always be his little girl and it was hard not to dislike the man who had caused her pain, however justified it may have been. For her part, Lex seemed to respect the man. She didn't like him overly much, but she respected the tough decisions he had to make. Jack supposed he would have to do the same. Colonel Tigh was in a similar situation to General Hammond and himself all those years ago. It was difficult to make choices like that and sometimes you made mistakes. You just did the best you could.

Jack, Daniel and Lucas were all sitting along side the length of a large table aboard the _Galactica_. Opposite them, Colonel Tigh, President Roslin and her aide, Billy, waited to begin what Daniel would call 'preliminary negotiations'. In Jack's mind, this was where they officially agreed not to kill each other. He would have brought Janet as the resident doctor (you know, just in case) for old times sake, but she was preoccupied with Boomer's baby.

"Thank you for meeting with us, Madam President, Colonel Tigh." Daniel began.

"Thanks to you as well, General O'Neill, Dr. Jackson." Laura replied.

Inwardly, Jack rolled his eyes as Daniel and President Roslin exchanged diplomatic pleasantries. He had always hated that, being a fairly blunt man, but sadly it came part and parcel of being a General. As soon as they were over, he jumped straight in, earning a dirty look from Daniel. "With all due respect, can we get straight to the point?" he asked directly.

Instead of looking offended as Daniel half expected, President Roslin seemed amused by Jack's straightforward comment. "By all means." She said.

"You need supplies, especially water and personnel, and access to medical technology." Jack said. "And in the long term, a new home."

"While we thank you for any supplies or crew you night give us and any help in finding us a new home, I can assure you our medical facilities are just fine." The President replied.

"Meaning no disrespect to your medical staff, ma'am," Lucas countered. "Our infirmary has access to superior medical technology and can help many of your people – including Commander Adama and Dr. Baltar."

"What are you saying, Doctor?" Roslin asked shrewdly.

"I'm saying, ma'am, that in our infirmary, we could repair the damage to Commander Adama's organs and allow him wake from his coma." Lucas replied, and Laura looked as if she was seriously considering the option.

"Is that the same infirmary that has a Cylon in it?" Colonel Tigh asked. "The same model that shot Commander Adama in the first place?"

"Yes." Jack answered levelly. "She has done nothing to harm us. In fact, she's been helping us. We have no reason to deny her medical treatment."

"She's a Cylon." Colonel Tigh snapped.

Daniel put his hand on Jack's arm to silence his reply. He could feel his friend's annoyance towards Colonel Tigh and knew that Jack had a tendency to be quite insulting when he didn't like someone. Sometimes that was useful, but today it was not.

"Perhaps we can come to an agreement." He said. "We can offer you supplies and personnel to help you, as well as access to medical technology for those who need it. While your crew is receiving medical treatment, we can place Lieutenant Valerii under constant guard."

"And in return?" President Roslin asked, a shrewd look in her eye showing that she would argue for the best outcome for her people.

"We keep Lieutenant Valerii aboard the _Prometheus_ for now and hold more in depth talks as soon as Commander Adama is well enough." Daniel replied.

"That Cylon is responsible…" Colonel Tigh began angrily.

"Agreed." President Roslin interrupted, before standing and offering her hand across the table. "General."

Jack stood as well and shook the President's hand, sealing the agreement. "Madame President."

"Dr. Jackson." Laura said, turning to Daniel and also offering her hand.

"Madame President." Daniel returned, shaking her hand.

Colonel Tigh remained seated, looking ready to explode in anger. Wisely, he kept his mouth shut in order to discuss things when he was alone with the President – but only just.

"I'll arrange to have Commander Adama and Dr. Baltar ready for transport as soon as possible, along with our Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Cottle, who has been treating them." Laura said.

"Thank you." Jack replied.

"My aide, Billy," Laura said, gesturing to the quiet young man, "will help you with any problems you may have with transporting the supplies or personnel."

"We'll start distributing supplies as soon as they arrive from Earth." Jack told her.

Laura smiled at him. "Thank you, General." She said. "You have no idea how grateful we are for your help."

"Oh, I might." Jack said, returning her smile. "But you're welcome."

* * *

Lex sighed in relief as she ducked into the pilot quarters aboard the _Galactica_. She needed a moment or two of peace after that intense debriefing, before she faced the other pilots back aboard the _Prometheus_. Her father had led the questioning in the debriefing, going from annoyance at her for revealing too much information, to pride at how she had handled things as a commander, along with an icy-cold anger towards Colonel Tigh at the way he had treated his daughter. 

So after facing all that, Lex wanted to wait a little before joining the exuberance, teasing and underlying concern of her fellow pilots aboard the _Prometheus_. Besides, she wanted to say goodbye to her new friends. Odds were, she'd be back on the _Galactica_ before long, but she couldn't just leave without a word.

Finding the bunkroom empty, Lex frowned. She left the bunkroom and wandered towards Lee's office, wondering if he was maybe catching up on some paperwork. She was due for transport (via Asgard technology) in about an hour, as her _Interceptor_ had already been moved back to the _Prometheus_, much to the Chief's disappointment. Lex had said goodbye to the Chief and his deck crew earlier, along with Billy and the President. Only Dee, Gaeta, Lee and his pilots were left – if she could find them!

She reached Lee's office and knocked on the hatch. "Lee?" she called out.

"Come in." Lee called back.

Lex opened the hatch and stepped inside, to find Lee sitting behind his desk almost buried under a stack of paperwork. He was looking a little frustrated, but smiled in greeting. "Hi, Lex." He said.

"Hey, Lee." Lex replied. "I'm not disturbing you, am I?"

Lee shook his head. "You're not disturbing me."

"Want to take a break and go for a walk, then?" Lex asked.

Lee glanced between her and the still open hatch. "No, thanks." He said quickly. "I'm quite happy here. How about you close the hatch and sit down?"

Lex did as he asked, shutting the hatch and giving him an amused look as she sat down opposite him. "You're not hiding from someone, are you Lee?" she said.

"Hiding?" Lee echoed. "From who?"

"At a guess? Lieutenant Thrace." Lex answered.

With a sigh, Lee put down his pen and rubbed a hand over his face. "I have no idea what to say to her." He admitted softly. "The last time we spoke she asked me if I'd really miss a screw-up like her. Her words, not mine. And the time before that we were throwing punches at each other."

He sighed again. "We were fighting because I was ragging on her about sleeping with the Vice President. I accused her of dropping her pants for anyone and she hit me. So I hit her back."

Lex smiled in remembrance. "I've had a few disagreements like that."

Her comment brought a smile to Lee's face and brushed away the sombre look in his eyes. "Only a few?" he teased, placing a hand on his jaw in remembered pain. "Starbuck packs one hell of a punch. It hurt."

"So, what's the Vice President like?" Lex asked. "I don't think I've met him."

"Dr. Baltar." Lee said. "Actually, he's the former Vice President now. He collapsed in a meeting a few days after my father was shot. He's in a coma."

"Oh, the unconscious man next to your father in the infirmary."

"Yeah." Lee replied. "He was supposed to be brilliant, but I never liked him. He was weird, always talking to himself and he always seemed kind of sleazy to me."

"So's who the Vice President now?" Lex asked.

"No one." Lee answered. "Elections were supposed to be held next week."

Lex nodded, before giving Lee a sharp look. "You're distracting me." She accused.

"Not intentionally." Lee said with a small smile. "But I was hoping it would work."

"No luck, I'm afraid." Lex replied. "You're going to have to face her sometime. What are you going to say then?"

Lee let out a breath. "I have no idea." He said quietly. "I've been her friend for a long time, ever since the Academy and before she got involved with Zak, but I just don't know."

"Zak?" Lex questioned.

"My brother." Lee said, before telling Lex the whole story in a quiet tone.

"How long have you been in love with her?" she asked when he had finished.

Lee looked at her and smiled wryly. "Sometimes it feels like too long." He replied.

Before either of them could say anything more, there was a loud pounding on the hatch, dispelling the sombre mood. "Who is it?" Lee called.

"Hotdog, sir!" Came the bellowed reply.

Shaking his head, Lee smiled dryly. "Come in."

Hotdog opened the hatch and he, along with Gaeta, Dee, Kat and Crashdown, spilled into Lee's office. "There she is!" Hotdog cried. "You weren't hiding from us, were you sir?"

Lex grinned. "Hiding from you, Hotdog?" she said. "Never!"

There were a few muffled chuckles at that, including one from Lee's direction. "We heard you were leaving, sir." Dee said. "Especially since the talks are over."

Dee was referring to the gathering of senior crew of both the _Prometheus_ and the _Galactica_ that was currently going on. Lex was actually a little surprised that Lee wasn't present.

"I'm leaving pretty soon, I'm afraid." Lex said. "I need to report back to my CAG."

Gaeta smiled sadly. We'll me you around here, sir." He said.

"Yeah." Lee agreed. "We will."

Lex smiled at her new friends, touched that they'd miss her. "I'll be back before you know it." She said. "Just you watch."

"Good." Dee said, stepping forward to give Lex a hug. "We'll hold you to that."

Soon it was hugs all round, with Gaeta and Crashdown wishing her luck and making her promise to come back. Hotdog, naturally, had a request to make. "How about a kiss?" he said. "To make me feel better, now that you're leaving us."

"Hotdog!" Crashdown elbowed him, before breaking into a grin. "You forgot the 'sir'!"

"Oh, sorry." Hotdog said. "How about a kiss, sir?"

Lex leaned forward and kissed Hotdog on the cheek. "That's the only place I'm ever going to kiss you, Hotdog." She said as he opened his mouth to protest.

Kat burst into uproarious laughter at that and catcalls and teasing resounded. No matter where you were, it seemed, pilots were exactly the same!

When things had quietened down again, Lex turned to Lee, stepping forward to give him a hug goodbye. "Don't worry, Lee." She whispered. "There's still hope for you and Starbuck."

She stepped back just as a strange female voice spoke out behind them. "Lee?"

Lex turned to see Lucas and an unfamiliar blonde woman, dressed in Colonial uniform, standing just beyond the open hatch. "Starbuck!" Hotdog and Crashdown cried enthusiastically.

"Lieutenant Thrace." Lee greeted a bit more levelly. "May I introduce Captain Alexandra O'Neill of the _U.N.E.S. Prometheus_?"

"Hi." Lex smiled. "It's great to finally meet you."

"Hey." Kara replied, smiling slightly back at Lex, but her eyes kept darting back to Lee.

"Lexie, we have to go." Lucas said in the following silence, once again using her childhood nickname. "Commander Adama and Dr. Baltar are due for transport."

Lucas transferred his gaze to Lee at that. "General O'Neill wants me to tell you that you are welcome to visit your father on the _Prometheus_ any time you wish." He said gravely.

"Thank you." Lee replied.

Nodding, Lex walked towards the door. After stepping out the hatch, Lex turned back to her new friends. "Kick some Cylon ass for me!" she said. "I'll be back before you can blink." Then she grinned wickedly and turned to Lee. "And Lee? Try not to get yourself locked in the brig again!"

The last comment surprised a laugh out of Lee. "I will if you will!"

Lex grinned. "Deal."

Waving a final goodbye, Lex and Lucas walked off down the corridor, leaving the crew members to greet their missing pilot in relative privacy. "Ready to go back?" Lucas asked.

"I suppose." Lex said, giving a final glance around the _Galactica's_ corridor.

"Good." Lucas said with a grin after glancing at his watch, as the pair disappeared in a flash of bright white light.

To Be Continued…


	11. Back Aboard the Prometheus

Author's Note: Sorry, it took so long! I hope Doc Cottle doesn't sound too out of character and I hope you like the chap!

Cheeky.

* * *

The Thirteenth Colony:

Chapter Ten:

By cheeky-chaos

Lex blinked at the sudden change in environment as she transported from the _Galactica_ to the _Prometheus_. But, used to it by now, she was barely fazed as she glanced around to see what part of the ship she was on.

"Do you have a moment before you have to report in to the CAG?" Lucas asked from beside her.

Lex turned to him. "Sure." She said. "But only a minute."

"Good." Lucas smiled. "Because I know of a few people who would love to see you."

Rising her eyebrows, Lex asked. "Who?"

"Who do you think?" Lucas replied.

Lex grinned, before turning and walking off towards her parents' quarters. When she realised that Lucas wasn't following her, she turned back. "Aren't you coming?"

Lucas shook his head. "Sorry, I've got to head back to the infirmary."

Lex smiled. "I see." She said. "You still want to catch up for dinner?"

"Oh, yeah." Lucas replied. "I'm looking forward to hearing all about how those Colonials got you into a dress!"

Lex chuckled and continued to walk up the corridor to her parents' quarters. Her mother answered her knock at the door, her face lighting up when she saw her daughter. "Lexie!" she cried, enveloping her in a tight hug.

"Mom." Lex greeted warmly.

"Sam?" Jack called from deeper within their shared quarters. "Is that Lex?"

"Yeah, Dad." Lex replied for her mother. "It's me."

Dr. Samantha O'Neill, formerly Lieutenant Colonel, pulled back slightly from her daughter, but kept her close. Sam's blue eyes shone a little wetly as she looked her daughter over from head to toe, searching for the slightest injury. She had heard from Jack what had happened to her daughter, and despite Lex's ability to take care of herself, Sam had worried.

"I'm fine, Mom." Lex said quietly. "Just ask Lucas. He checked me out and everything."

Sam tilted Lex's chin and looked at the faint bruises still covering her face from where the Cylon had hit her. "What about these?" Sam asked.

Lex flashed her a cocky grin. "I've had worse."

"She has." Jack agreed, coming up behind Sam. "Our Lexie has always had a knack of getting into fights."

"I wonder where she gets that from?" Sam muttered.

Jack and Lex both shared a grin and a tight hug, finally able to greet each other properly as father and daughter, instead of General and Captain. It was hard, but they were serving on a military spaceship – the chain of command had to be respected.

"Danny wants to congratulate you on your diplomacy." Jack told her after a moment. "Which, in other words, means he wants to thank you for not annoying them like I would have."

Lex grinned. "He also wants to talk to you about Colonial society." Jack added with a grimace.

"I'll go and see him after I've reported in." Lex said. Glancing at her watch, she added. "Which is right about now. Bye mom, bye dad!"

"Bye, sweetheart." Jack said.

Sam watched her daughter dart off down the corridor, hurrying to report in to the CAG. A soft smile played at her lips. "She's growing up just like you, Jack." She said.

"Like me?" Jack blinked.

"Yes." She confirmed. "Able to take anything the Universe throws at her and win."

Jack smiled. "That pretty much describes her mother, too." He said.

Sam smiled back at her husband. "Perhaps." She said. "But she does it with your cheek."

"Oh, that reminds me." Jack said, checking his watch. "I've got to have a chat with John in a minute."

"General Sheppard?" Sam asked.

"Yeah." Jack replied. "Wanna come say 'hi'?"

* * *

Doctor Janet Fraiser-Jackson looked up as the medical team transported into her infirmary in a flash of bright light. She spotted the two stretchers with them as soon as the light faded and immediately went to work. "Status!" she barked.

"One gunshot victim and the other just collapsed." The lead medic said promptly. "Both are coma patients."

Janet nodded. "Alright, get both of them on beds. I want the man who collapsed scanned from head to toe." She ordered.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Bring the gunshot victim over here." She directed the other medics, motioning to a bed near her. "How long ago was he shot?"

"About three weeks ago, ma'am. Two in the chest from close range."

Janet headed straight for the medical scan unit at the foot of the bed. "What about treatment?" she asked. "Any serious damage to his internal organs?"

"Those bullets tore up his insides. Bounced around like a pinball." A new voice answered. "He was bleeding internally, so I treated him the best I could."

Janet turned to see a broad shouldered man with white hair entering her infirmary, with Lucas by his side. The man was wearing a white coat, indicating he was a doctor and his grey eyes swept the room without missing a thing.

"Doctor Cottle, I assume?" Janet asked.

"That's me." Doc Cottle replied. "You Doc Fraiser?"

"Yes, I am." Janet answered. "Can you tell me while Commander Adama still remains in a coma?"

"My guess? The internal damage and blood loss was too great for his body to heal. But I don't know." Cottle replied.

"Alright." Janet said. "Lucas, examine the other patient. Doctor Cottle, if you provide any help it would be greatly appreciated."

"Yes, ma'am." Lucas replied.

"It's your infirmary." Cottle agreed.

Janet looked up and gave the other doctor a small smile. "That doesn't mean we aren't grateful for any help you can give us, Doctor."

Doc Cottle gave a wry smile. "I'm just glad they're still alive. We're running on empty back over on the _Galactica_."

"We'll soon fix that." Janet told him.

Shifting her focus back to the scans of Commander Adama's injuries, Janet frowned. They were as extensive as Doc Cottle had said. The close range of the shot had seriously damaged any internal organ it had touched and the body had yet to heal in any major way. Considering the importance of her patient, Janet knew there was only one treatment she could give that would have Commander Adama back on his feet in time for the talks scheduled to take place very soon.

Sighing, she called. "Someone bring me a healing device."

"Here you are, ma'am." One of the nurses said a moment later, handing Janet a device that looked like a rather large armband.

Janet placed the device on Commander Adama's wrist, just as Doctor Cottle walked over. The device stretched from wrist almost to his elbow and held a screen and buttons on the outside. Janet quickly programmed it, as Doc Cottle spoke.

"What is that?" Cottle demanded.

"A healing device." She said calmly. "Don't worry. It will heal Commander Adama a lot faster and reliably than anything else will."

The device had been developed from Ancient technology, as had most of the technology in the infirmary. That technology was humanities birthright, as Oma had once said, and humanity had wasted no time in using it. Since the technology was both very advanced and similar to the rest, they fed into each other, creating a complex web of machines that monitored the health of a seriously injured patient, such as Commander Adama.

"What does it do?" Cottle asked.

Janet looked up at the gruff man in front of her and saw the obvious concern on his face. "It monitors his vitals and uses nanotechnology to help the body repair damaged tissue."

"Wow." Cottle said. "I don't have anything like that to play with."

Janet smiled. "I remember a time when I didn't either." She said. "He should wake up in an hour or two."

For the next two hours, Doc Cottle sat by Commander Adama's bed and kept a close eye on him as Janet and Lucas carefully worked on Dr. Baltar. Despite the fact that he seemed to be in a coma, there seemed to be nothing wrong with the man. Suddenly, Janet's somewhat tired mind focused on the information in front of her. She blinked, wondering why it had taken her so long to notice. Admittedly, she hadn't been focused on that part of the scans, but that was no excuse in her mind.

"His nervous system contains traces of silicon, as do the synapses in his brain." Janet snapped. "I don't know why we didn't spot it before. This man is a Cylon, just like Lieutenant Valerii."

Lucas looked up in surprise. "Except, my guess would be that when he wakes up, he won't be so friendly." He said as his brain processed the information. "So why did he collapse?"

"I don't know." Janet replied. "And I don't know enough about Cylons to guess yet, either. Keep an eye on him. I'm going to tell the General."

She walked over to the internal comm. system and buzzed the bridge. "Bridge." Sam's voice echoed in answer.

"Hey, Sam." Janet greeted.

"Hey, Janet." Sam replied. "What can I do for you?"

"Is the General there?"

"Sure." Sam said, passing her over.

"Hey, Doc." Jack greeted. "I hope this is good news."

Janet sighed. "I'm afraid not, General." She said tiredly. "I think we've got a big problem on our hands."

"What is it, Doc?" Jack asked, and Janet could almost picture him sitting up straighter in his chair and his gaze sharpening.

"Dr. Baltar is a Cylon."

Jack cursed loudly. "Thanks, Janet." He said. "I'll let the _Galactica _know. I'm also sending some Marines down to guard him and he'll have to be strapped."

"Yes, sir." Janet acknowledged. "Sorry I couldn't be the bearer of better news."

"Oh, it's not your fault." Jack replied.

Janet signed off, just as one of the nurses walked up to her. "Ma'am." She said. "The healing device has almost finished repairing the damage."

"Thank you." Janet replied. "I want you to secure Dr. Baltar. Treat him with caution, but be mindful of his state. Some Marines will be down to guard him soon."

"Is there anything wrong, ma'am?"

"Let's hope not, but Dr. Baltar appears to be a Cylon." Janet replied.

Leaving the nurse to do her job, she walked over to the bed on which Commander Adama lay and checked the monitor herself. She smiled slightly, before turning to Doc Cottle, who still sat beside the bed. "It seems you did a better job than you thought." She remarked.

Doc Cottle smiled slightly. "I just hope he wakes up soon. We're going to need him, I can feel it."

Janet laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "He will." She said. "Besides, I'm looking forward to meeting him."

Over the next little while, Janet kept a close eye on her patients, making sure the Marines weren't getting in the way of her nurses and doctors, and watching Commander Adama. Thanks to the wondrous power of the healing device, he should be waking up soon and Janet wanted to be near when that happened. The device could only heal what was wrong physically. It did nothing to ease the shock of waking up in a foreign environment, surrounded by strange people.

When Commander Adama's eyes finally did flicker and open, Janet was ready with a watchful eye towards his vitals and a welcoming smile. "Welcome back to the land of the living, Commander." She said.

Doc Cottle was also eager to greet his Commander. "Morning, sir." He said. "You had us worried for a moment there."

Commander Adama blinked somewhat bleary blue eyes at Doc Cottle. "Doc?" he said, his voice rough. "Is that you?"

"It's me, sir." He replied.

Commander Adama looked around. "Where am I? This doesn't look like the _Galactica's _medbay."

"That's because its not. You're aboard a ship called the _U.N.E.S. Proemtheus_." Doc Cottle explained. "A lot has happened since you were shot, sir."

* * *

"Captain Alexandra O'Neill reporting in, sir." Lex said with a sharp salute.

"Geez, Viper!" Commander Mark 'Skipper' Gale said, as he turned around. "When I said report in at 0700, I thought you'd give me five minutes to change into my uniform!"

Lex fought a grin as she stared at the CAG. "Sorry, sir." She said.

The Skipper was standing there in just a towel and his dogtags, water still dripping from his hair and chest. He raised dark eyebrows. "Are you going to let me change, Captain?"

"I just thought you'd be happy to see me, sir!" Lex said as she retreated back out into the bunkroom.

With a sigh, Lex looked around the bunkroom. Everyone was asleep, except for the Skipper and Aleksandr "Merlin" Koslov, who was probably still at the gym, and it would take nothing less of a Goa'uld invasion to wake them.

"I _am_ happy to see you, Viper." The Skipper said as he walked out of the shower in pants and a T-shirt and towelling his hair. "Lord knows, it's been hell around here with you gone. I swear, half this squadron is in love with you."

Lex grinned. "Aw, it's nice to be missed so much, sir."

"Yeah, yeah." The Skipper waved away her playful teasing. "Just wake everyone up, will you?"

"With pleasure, sir!"

A low chuckle came from the doorway, as Aleksandr slipped into the bunkroom. "If anyone can do it, you can Viper." He said. "I believe in you."

Grinning at her big Russian friend's rare moment of teasing, Lex swaggered exaggeratedly forward a few steps. "Thanks Sasha." She said. "I know."

Aleksandr shared a grin with the Skipper, before they both turned back to look expectantly at Lex. Lex turned to the bunks filled with the sleeping forms of her fellow pilots. "Hey, guys!" she bellowed. "I'm back!"

There was a little stirring and grumbling at her shout, but no one got up. Narrowing her eyes, Lex tried the one thing that would wake most of them up. "Free beer in the mess!"

Behind her, the Skipper and Aleksandr chuckled as Tex jerked upright, blinking bleary eyes at Lex. "Beer?" he asked.

Next to him, Bastien "Torch" Shultz was also struggling to sit up. He glared at Lex. "That was a nasty trick!" he said.

"Yeah, it was, mate." Owen "Tank" Mitchell agreed.

Marguerite "Nightmare" Devereux looked at Lex with amused green eyes. "You know I never get out of bed for anything less than chocolate." She said.

Lex pouted playfully, amusement lighting her eyes. "Aren't you guys happy to see me?" she asked.

"Of course we are!" Charles "Ice" Boone said, as he leapt from his top bunk and slung and arm around Lex's shoulders. "So, are you going to tell us what happened?"

"Of course." Lex said with a grin and proceeded to tell them all what had happened to her onboard the _Galactica_ ever since she had been separated from them. She tried not to embellish the events too much as she described what the Colonials had been through.

"Woah." Billy "Tex" Wilson said when she had finished. "That's one vengeful enemy."

"The scariest part is that could have been us." Lan "Rocket" Yao said quietly. "We could have been the ragtag fleet if the Goa'uld had won."

"It definitely leads to sympathy and understanding." The Skipper agreed. "Which will hopefully lead to a fast agreement to our government and theirs."

Everyone pondered this sombre thought for a moment, before the Skipper broke it again. "Come on guys, shift start soon!"

Then he turned to Lex with a teasing grin and an arched eyebrow. "I trust you're not going to disappear on us again, Captain?"

"No, sir!" Lex replied. "You're stuck with me this time."

"Oh, wonderful." Bastien said dryly, before winking at Lex.

"It is." Aleksandr said seriously. "She's the only one of you who can fly!"

"Aw, Sasha." Lex replied. "You say the sweetest things!"

Everyone else protested loudly, except the Skipper, who just watched everyone with clear amusement. "Alright, people!" he called when the teasing and catcalling started to get loud. "Suit up!"

There was a ripple of grumbling as all the pilots drifted off to the showers or their lockers. Ten minutes later, everyone reassembled, more or less awake, if still a little damp. Aleksandr came up to stand beside Lex, as Tex and Ice jostled on her other side. "Keep your hands off each other, boys!" Lex said in a stage whisper. "You're on duty!"

As one, Tex and Ice turned towards her and gave her almost identical looks of annoyance. Lex grinned as Bastien and Tank chuckled. "She has a point." Bastien agreed with a wink.

Before either Tex or Ice could retaliate, the Skipper cleared his throat. "Okay." He said. "We're on protective detail today. Lt. Commander Blake and Captain Sanchez (the other lead pilots and their squadrons aboard the _Prometheus_) are sharing our usual rotation between them."

"Captain Mitchell." The Skipper continued. "I want you and Captain Devereux to coordinate the distribution of supplies amongst the Colonial fleet. General O'Neill has warned us that we can't use the transporter in case we startle large amounts of people, so we're flying them out. The SGC has sent us a few puddle jumpers to help, so you'll also be running protective detail on them."

"Those puddle jumpers don't exactly need our protection, sir." Tank remarked.

"I know." The Skipper replied. "But the General thinks it would look better."

"When do we begin, sir?" Marguerite asked.

"As soon as possible. Take Torch, Ice, Tex and Rocket with you." The Skipper ordered.

"Yes, sir." Both Tank and Marguerite replied.

Then the Skipper turned to Lex and Aleksandr. "The two of you will be coming with me. It seems if Commander Adama recovers like everyone says he will, the talks begin in just two hours. We'll be running protective detail on them. The talks are being held on the _Galactica_."

"Won't the pilots on the _Galactica_ provide protective detail enough, sir?" Lex asked.

"Both the General and President Roslin believed a joint presence would be best." The Skipper replied. "Okay, any other questions? No? Then let's fly!"

To Be Continued…


	12. Conversations and Talks

Author's Note: Sorry this took so long, but between homework and being stuck in bed with a lousy cold, I didn't get much done!

Cheeky.

* * *

The Thirteenth Colony:

Chapter Eleven:

By cheeky-chaos

"Lee?" Kara asked, surprised, as she caught him hugging a slender brunette in U.N.E Fleet uniform.

"Starbuck!" Hotdog and Crashdown greeted enthusiastically.

Lee slid his gaze to her as the brunette turned, his eyes the same piercing blue as she remembered. "Lieutenant Thrace." He greeted levelly. "May I introduce Captain Alexandra O'Neill of the _U.N.E.S. Prometheus_?"

Kara winced inwardly, as she realised Lee was still mad at her. Whether it was because she had disobeyed orders by jumping back to Caprica or because she had slept with Dr. Baltar, she wasn't sure. Probably both, she reflected wryly. Or perhaps it was hope – hope that he cared enough about her to feel angry and maybe jealous.

"Hi." Lex smiled and Kara saw the warmth and sincerity in her intelligent brown eyes. "It's great to finally meet you."

"Hey." Kara replied, smiling slightly back.

Her eyes drifted back to Lee, though. She still couldn't believe she was finally back. Absently, Kara hoped she wouldn't have to mess up Lex's pretty face later, because she had done a lot of thinking back on that frakking planet and she wasn't going to give Lee up this time. If she could find the courage she needed to do something.

"Lexie, we have to go." Lucas said from behind her in the following silence. "Commander Adama and Dr. Baltar are due for transport."

Kara felt a pang of sadness when she heard Lucas mention the old man. Yet another thing in her life she had managed to screw up – could she have frakked up her life any more if she'd tried?

"General O'Neill wants me to tell you that you are welcome to visit your father on the _Prometheus_ any time you wish." Lucas added gravely to Lee.

"Thank you." Lee replied.

Lex nodded to Lucas, and stepped out of the hatch. With a final grin, Lex turned back to her new friends. "Kick some Cylon ass for me!" she said. "I'll be back before you can blink."

"And Lee?" she added with a wicked grin. "Try not to get yourself locked in the brig again!"

Lee blinked in surprise, before letting out a rich laugh. It was something he didn't do for a lot of people, as he guarded his emotions well, and Kara felt a little jealous and hostile towards Lex at that moment. It was a shame, as she seemed like someone she could like. The emotional response was so automatic, that it took a moment for Lex's words to sink in. The brig?

"I will if you will!" Lee replied.

Lex grinned. "Deal." She said, with a final wink before disappearing.

"The brig?" Starbuck echoed, stepping inside Lee's office.

"Yeah." Lee replied, sounding a little defensive. "The brig. You're not the only one who can break rules, you know."

"No." Kara agreed softly. "But how? Why?"

"I disobeyed a direct order and put a gun to Colonel Tigh's head." Lee explained in a flat voice. "And I served out my punishment."

Kara didn't say anything. She felt too awed to speak. By-the-book Lee had pulled a gun on his superior officer? That sounded more like something she would do. What had happened to the fleet while she'd been gone?

The others shifted slightly, almost as if they wanted to form rank behind him. "He did something no one else had the courage to do." Hotdog said, his tone both serious and respectful. "And stopped Colonel Tigh from staging a coup and taking over the fleet."

"He acted on instinct to do what was right." Gaeta agreed.

Kara felt a twinge of jealousy at that. Lee had acted rebelliously and the crew loved him for it. That never happened to her. It always felt as if she was indulged more than anything. "Making up for my absence, Lee?" she joked, but it fell flat.

The rest of the pilots, Gaeta and Dee made their excuses then and left, obviously sensing Lee and Kara had something to talk about in private. With a long sigh, Lee sank back down into his chair behind his desk, perhaps unconsciously reminding Kara that he was both the CAG and her superior officer. "Sir?" she asked, hoping maybe a bit of respect would help her situation and not quite knowing what to expect.

"Sir?" Lee snorted, seeming to find some amusement in it. "Why, Kara? Just tell me why."

"The President asked me to." Kara replied, still standing before him.

"Is that all?"

Kara frowned a little. "She told me the old man lied, that he didn't know where Earth was. What else was I going to do? It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"If I remember correctly, so do a lot of your ideas." Lee said with a small half-smile, obviously trying to lighten the mood.

"What it's going to take, Lee?" Kara asked, coming to sit in front of his desk, sadness and self-loathing reflected in her eyes. "Did I frak up too much? Can we make things right between us? I thought of you every day on that frakking planet, wishing I was back here."

"I thought of you too, Kara." Lee admitted softly. "But I don't know. I really don't know."

"Guess I really frakked up then." Kara muttered sadly.

Lee looked at her, the same sadness reflected in his blue eyes. "I think we both did."

There was a knock on the hatch then, breaking the mood. Lee glanced up and spotted the Marine in the doorway. "Colonel Tigh wants to see you in the CIC, sir." The Marine told him.

Lee nodded. "I'm on my way." He said, before turning to glance at Kara. "Why don't you go and grab a shower?" he suggested. "You look tired."

Kara nodded a little dumbly, slightly surprised at how easily Lee had fallen back into their old routine, as he disappeared out of the hatch. She sat there for a moment longer, a smile slowly growing on her face. Maybe she hadn't frakked up too bad. There was hope yet.

* * *

"Commander Adama." Jack greeted, as he walked over to where the man was sitting up in his bed under the watchful eye of Doc Fraiser, who moved away slightly to give the men a little privacy as Jack approached. "My name is General O'Neill. I hear you've got a lot of questions."

"I do." Commander Adama agreed. "But first I believe I owe you a lot of thanks, General."

Jack smiled and shrugged it off. "It was nothing." He said. "Oh, I sent word to your son. He'll be over to see you soon."

"Thank you." Commander Adama said, his voice still a little rough.

He looked a whole lot healthier than he had when he had first come into the infirmary, although he was not up to full strength yet. He had colour in his cheeks now, although the deep shadows under his eyes still remained.

"So," Jack said, as he rocked on the balls of his feet, hands in his pockets. "How are you feeling?"

"A lot better." The Commander replied. Then he raised an eyebrow. "Am I keeping you from something, General?"

"Oh." Jack said and immediately stopped his fidgeting. "Ah, don't tell the Doc, but the infirmary always makes me a little nervous. All those needles."

Commander Adama smiled. "I can understand that." He replied. "And she won't hear it from me, General."

"How about you call me Jack?" Jack asked. "General always makes me sound so stuffy."

The Commander was amused at the blunt and honest way Jack was talking to him, completely unlike the stiffly formal way other Commanders of the Colonial Fleet used to act around him. He suspected, though, that this wasn't so much a characteristic of the U.N.E Fleet, but of the man himself. There were definitely qualities of a little boy about Jack.

"Only if you'll call me Bill." He replied.

"Okay then, Bill." Jack said with a smile. "Ready to bust out of here yet?"

"Definitely." Bill replied with feeling.

"General, you will not encourage my patients to sneak out of the infirmary." Janet said as she walked over to look at Bill's vitals. "And how about answering some of those questions?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "Yes, Doc." He said. "You'd never guess I was the General and she was the Colonel." He added as Janet wandered off again.

Bill chuckled softly. Flashing him a quick grin, Jack pulled up a chair and settled in to explain to Bill what had happened and answer some of his questions. It was a rather long explanation, but that wasn't difficult considering everything involved.

"That's one hell of a story." Bill remarked when Jack was done.

"Isn't it?" Jack agreed. "I'm sure Colonel Tigh will be here soon enough to fill you in on what's been happening in your own fleet."

"Oh, he's already been." Bill replied. "He decided to leave you to tell me about your missing pilot."

"Ah."

It was then that Jack noticed Lee and Kara entering the infirmary, Lucas a step or two behind them. "Here's your son, now." he remarked. "I'll see you later at the talks, Commander."

Bill smiled wryly. "No way to get out of them, is there?"

Jack shook his head, also smiling wryly, as he got up to leave. "Sadly, no." he agreed with a wink. "I'll keep trying, though."

* * *

Two hours later, Lee finished talking to Colonel Tigh about the security plans for the upcoming talks, which would happen as soon as his father was well enough. Lee was still a little guilty about not being there for his father, but he had hope in the new technology the _Prometheus_ had provided. He might just be able to apologise to his father any day now.

Lee sighed. As if he wasn't twisted up enough inside at having let down his father like that, not to mention disobeying those orders still didn't sit entirely well with him, but now Kara was back, making everything even more complicated. Oh, well. At least life wasn't boring.

He made his way back to his office, wondering what to do about Kara. Obviously she had disobeyed orders, but the President was claiming that she had given Kara an order that overruled Commander Adama's. Perhaps he could take the easy way out and wait for his father to deal with it.

"Captain Adama?" a voice called out from behind him.

Lee turned to see Lucas hurrying towards him. It still seemed a little strange to find anyone but the crew of the _Galactica_ in the halls, especially since the _Prometheus_ crew seemed to keep appearing and disappearing almost randomly, but he was slowly getting used to it.

"Doctor Jackson." He greeted. "What can I do for you?"

Lucas smiled at him briefly. "I thought you'd like to know that your father just woke up. I'm here to take you across if you've got a moment."

Lee was floored by the words for a moment and he almost laughed out loud with relief. He felt a large weight lift from his shoulders. Oh gods, this was good news. "Of course." He replied.

"Would you mind if Lieutenant Thrace joined you?" Lucas asked. "She seemed quite concerned for Commander Adama."

Lee nodded. "Sure." He answered. "She'll probably be in her rack."

Within minutes, Lucas and Lee had collected Kara and transported across to the _Prometheus_. Both Lee and Kara jerked at the abrupt change of scenery, unaccustomed to the advanced technology. But they recovered quickly and fell into step behind Lucas as they headed to the infirmary.

At there appearance, General O'Neill, who had obviously been sitting beside Commander Adama's bed and talking to him, got up and wandered away. He nodded briefly in Lee's direction, before turning to talk to Doc Fraiser. Lee noticed this briefly, before his gaze was drawn to his father.

"Dad." He said, the word coming out rather rushed as he hurried over.

"Son." Bill greeted.

Straightening his shoulders, Lee looked his father directly in the eye, as if waiting for a reprimand. But none came. "How about we wait to discuss everything until later and you just say hello to your old man?" Bill suggested.

Lee smiled in gratitude, before walking over and giving his father a hug. "Gods, dad." He whispered. "I thought I lost you this time."

Both Adamas stared at each other with suspiciously bright eyes, grateful to have the chance to see each other once more. "It takes more than that to get me." Bill told his son. "You should know that."

"Yeah." Lee agreed.

Kara hung back from the two embracing men, not willing to step in to break the moment and not entirely sure she was welcome. But Bill had other ideas. "Hello, Kara." He greeted. "I'm glad to see you're alright."

"Me, too, sir." Kara replied with a small smile.

Keeping the conversation light, the trio talked for a long while. No one was willing to break the mood and discuss any disobeying of orders, but they all knew it was coming. But hopefully tomorrow and not today.

"I'm sorry to cut visiting hours short, Commander." Doc Frasier said as she walked up to the bed. "But those talks will be starting soon and you'll need your strength. You're not completely healed yet."

Lee smiled wryly. "Colonel Tigh is probably wondering where I am, anyway." He said. "As I'm supposed to be running security on the talks."

"Neither one of us can get out of it, hey son?" Bill said with a smile.

"Seems not." Lee smiled back.

* * *

President Roslin looked out over the gathered people. There had been some debate as to where the talks should be held, but she thought it was fitting they were taking place on the _Galactica_, and in Commander Adama's office, no less. It was the place many decisions regarding the future of the fleet had been made, a fitting place to make more.

"I suppose the thing to do would to begin with introductions, as well all know why we're here." She said.

"Told you we should have brought nametags." Jack said, seemingly to no one in particular.

"Jack!" Sam hissed, shooting him a look of amusement mixed with annoyance.

President Roslin was a little taken aback by Jack's comment, but continued with what she was saying. Something told her that she should keep an eye on the General, however. "My name is Laura Roslin, President of the Twelve Colonies." She introduced herself. "And beside me are Commander William Adama and Colonel Saul Tigh of the _Battlestar Galactica_, and my aide, Billy Keikeya."

"Madame President." Daniel acknowledged. "Allow me to introduce General Jack O'Neill, Dr. Samantha O'Neill, Teal'c and Dr. Janet Fraiser-Jackson." Daniel indicated each of his seated friends and wife in turn. "And I'm Dr. Daniel Jackson."

"Well now that that's out the way, how about we get started?" Jack asked.

Daniel winced slightly. "You'll have to excuse the General, he's not big on formality."

"I can understand that, General." Laura said with a small smile.

"I'm just a man who prefers getting to the point." Jack said, with a pointed look at Daniel. "And considering the problems we face, I thought it best to get straight to the point."

"Problems?" Laura asked mildly.

"The risk of attack, both from your enemies and ours, and the issues with supplies and personnel." Jack expanded.

"We gratefully accept your offer of more personnel, General." Bill spoke up. "And thank you for the supplies."

Jack nodded. "How many personnel do you need?" he asked. "My pilots can help take over the defending of your fleet and I thought about five pilots and around ten technicians and deckhands should be help on the _Galactica_."

"Thank you, General." Bill said. "That will be fine."

"I wanted to raise the issue of medical treatment." Janet said.

Jack nodded. "I was hoping that could wait until we got to Atlantis." He said.

"Atlantis?" Bill asked.

Daniel took over the explanation as Jack nodded. "We were thinking that Atlantis would provide space for the civilians in your fleet to rest away from the crammed quarters they're in at the moment, as well as being strong enough to withstand any Cylon attack."

Laura nodded. "Atlantis sounds like a good idea." She agreed.

"I'll want to do a complete medical check of everyone in the Colonial fleet once we get there." Janet said, more to Jack than anyone else.

"We'd be grateful for that, Doctor." Laura replied.

Bill sent a pointed look towards Laura, before adding. "Perhaps it would be best to check over the senior staff before we get there. If it's not too much trouble, Doctor."

"I was going to suggest that anyway, sir." Janet told him with a smile.

Billy looked up sharply at that, as he had been busy taking notes and sent a worried look towards the President. She shook her head slightly at Billy. "It would have come out soon, anyway." She said. "I have terminal breast cancer. I'm in remission at the moment, but…"

Janet frowned at her words and looked thoroughly annoyed. "Terminal given your technology, perhaps." She snapped. "We can treat cancers, even aggressive ones. You should have said something!"

Jack held up a hand when the President looked like she was about to reply. Trying to hide a smile, he said. "She won't take no for an answer, Madame President. Trust me on this."

"Very well." Laura conceded gracefully. "I'm sorry, Doctor."

Janet hardly looked appeased, but she kept silent although still looked rather put out. "I'll see you as soon as these talks are over, Madame President." It sounded more like an order than a request, a tone Jack and the rest of SG-1 knew rather well.

"What are we going to do about the Cylons?" Colonel Tigh asked in the following silence, speaking for the first time.

"Technologically, we have the advantage." Sam said, also speaking for the first time. "Our ships were designed to fight a more technologically advanced enemy than the Cylons. And a Cylon detector shouldn't be too hard to build."

"Morally, however, we might have a problem." Daniel remarked.

"What makes you say that, Doctor?" Laura asked, her gaze sharpening on him the moment he spoke.

"The Cylons have caused a lot of destruction and killed a lot of people, I'm not denying that." Daniel explained. "But the position of the U.N.E is that this doesn't qualify them for outright extermination."

"And you agree with this, General?" Colonel Tigh asked.

"In theory, yes." Jack said. "But I also know from experience that sometimes the only way to defeat an enemy is to destroy them all."

"Hopefully it won't come to that." Laura said. "Commander, you know the Cylons better than anyone else. What do you think?"

"Honestly?" Bill sighed. "I don't know. It was easier when they were all chrome toasters."

Jack chuckled softly at that. "Toasters?" he said with a grin. "I like that."

"May I make a suggestion, Doctor Jackson?" Teal'c asked, the big silent man spotting his friend's growing annoyance.

"Of course, Teal'c."

"I faced the same problem when fighting the Goa'uld." Teal'c said. "My fellow Jaffa were the soldiers for the enemy, but given a choice they chose to fight against their oppressors."

"Are you saying we should give the Cylons a chance?" Colonel Tigh snapped. "They'll just betray us!"

Teal'c raised his infamous eyebrow. "Perhaps you should give them a chance to prove you wrong, Colonel Tigh." He said levelly. "For has not Lieutenant Valerii proven it is possible?"

Laura smiled at the big man, hoping to diffuse the growing tension between him and Colonel Tigh. "It is definitely something to think about." She said. "However, at this point I think Lieutenant Valerii is the exception. Perhaps when we know more about what they're planning."

Teal'c inclined his head towards Laura, indicating he accepted her point. But Jack knew his big friend and knew that this wouldn't be the last they'd hear about it.

"That brings up another point." Bill said. "What are we going to do about Lieutenant Valerii? I understand she's not the same copy we had aboard the _Galactica_."

"No." Colonel Tigh agreed. "That Lieutenant Valerii hung herself a week after you were shot."

"And this one has the other copy's memories?" Bill asked.

"I believe she does, Commander." Sam answered.

Bill sighed, suddenly feeling very tired. "Let's keep her aboard the _Prometheus_ for now." he suggested. "I don't think I want to deal with the fleet's reaction to having a Cylon on our side right now."

"And the baby?" Janet asked.

"The baby is innocent." Bill said. "No child is guilty of the crimes of the parents."

Laura looked at him and shared a smile. "I agree."

"Good." Jack said, giving a large stretch. "That's settled then. How about we break for lunch?"

Bill chuckled. "Sounds like a plan." He agreed.

To Be Continued…


	13. New Faces, Old Friends

Author's Note: A double shot! It just kept coming. Enjoy ;) I also had to guess when it came to the ranks of some of the Galactica pilots (I made them all Junior Grade Lieutenants), as well as Crashdown's name. If I've made any mistakes, please let me know!

Oh, and a small warning. This chapter's a little suggestive in parts. Won't take you anywhere your dirty mind doesn't want to go!

Cheeky.

* * *

The Thirteenth Colony:

Chapter Twelve:

By cheeky-chaos

"Viper, can I see you a minute?" the Skipper called out, as the rest of the squadron headed towards the bunkroom.

The talks were over and the supplies delivered for now, so everyone was headed for a shower and a bite to eat before they had to head out again. "Sure, Skipper." Lex said as she fell into step beside her CO. "What's up, sir?"

"I've just received new orders." He said.

Lex groaned before he could continue. "Where are we going now?" she asked, sounding like she didn't want to know the answer.

The Skipper sighed and resisted the urge to roll his eyes at his pilots over the top behaviour. "I've been told to send some pilots over to the _Galactica_ to provide some support." He told Lex. "Interested?"

At his words, Lex perked right up. "Me, sir?" she said. "Oh, I'm there!"

The Skipper smiled. "You'll be deferring to Captain Adama in all matters regarding the Cylons." He said. "But he'll be deferring to you if the _Galactica_ ever comes under Goa'uld or Wraith attack. Technically, that will make you co-CAG."

"You're kidding!" Lex said, shocked. "Sir." She added quickly.

Laughing softly, the Skipper shook his head. "Not kidding." He said. "It's about time you had a bit more responsibility. Think you can handle it?"

"Wow." Lex whispered, still a little shocked at the chance. "Thank you, sir." She said a little louder. "Yes, sir. I can handle it."

"Thought so." The Skipper grinned. "Any idea who you're going to take?"

"Take, sir?"

"You'll have four pilots under your command, Captain."

"Merlin, Ice, Tex and Torch, sir." Lex answered without hesitation, naming the same pilots she was always getting into trouble with.

"I thought as much." He said. "Well, then Captain. You'd better go and find your pilots so you can brief them. You due aboard the _Galactica_ in an hour."

"Yes, sir!" Lex said excitedly, snapping off a sharp salute, before racing off towards the bunkroom.

* * *

Lex grinned as she suddenly transported across to the _Galactica_. As much as she loved the _Prometheus_, it was good to be back. Especially with company! As per her orders, Lex was reporting aboard the _Galactica_, with the pilots under her new command. Her head was still spinning at the thought of the new responsibility.

This time she was dressed in the standard U.N.E Fleet uniform of boots, green pants and logo-ed jacket over a black T-shirt, although she still wore her Beretta and zat gun strapped to her legs and her fingerless gloves. Her flight suit was with the rest of her stuff in the duffel she had slung over her shoulder. Behind her, Bastien, Aleksandr, Ice and Tex were all dressed the same and carrying their own duffels.

Still grinning madly, Lex made her way down towards the _Galactica's_ pilots' bunkroom, knowing she'd catch Lee and the others off-shift. And sure enough, they were moving tiredly around the room when she peered inside. Sharing a glance with her fellow pilots from the _Prometheus_, Lex leaned up against the open hatch and called out. "Hey, Lee. Where's my bunk?"

Lex burst into merry laughter at Lee's startled look as he spun around. "Sorry." She grinned. "Oh, I brought some friends this time."

"Viper!" Crashdown and Hotdog cried happily when they spotted her.

"So you're my new co-CAG, huh?" Lee grinned.

Walking into the bunkroom and flashing Lee a wink, Lex motioned to the pilots behind her. "May I introduce Lieutenant Aleksandr "Merlin" Koslov, Lieutenant Charles "Ice" Boone, Lieutenant Bastien "Torch" Shultz and Lieutenant Billy "Tex" Wilson?" Lex said, pointing out each man in turn. "Your new bunkmates!"

Returning the introductions, Lee pointed out his pilots. "This is Lieutenant Brendan "Hotdog" Constanza, Lieutenant Sam "Crashdown" Reed, Lieutenant Margaret "Racetrack" Edmonsen and Lieutenant Louanne "Kat" Katraine." he said. "Starbuck, who is around here somewhere, you already know."

The two groups of pilots regarded each other curiously for a moment. Lex looked at them and rolled her eyes. "Say hello, boys." She said. "I'm sure if you're nice, they won't bite."

Lee chuckled at that, as Starbuck finally wandered out from the showers. She blinked when she saw the new pilots standing in the middle of the bunkroom. "What'd I miss?" she asked.

Four sets of eyes looked her up and down, as Kara only wore a set of tanks and a towel around her waist. "Honey, I'll fill you in anytime." Bastien said.

Lex groaned and shook her head. "Keep it in your pants, boys." She said. "Please?"

Kara glanced at Lex, before looking back at the other _Prometheus_ pilots. "She's right." She agreed. "You might hurt yourself."

Tex sniggered. "Nah, it's too small!" he said.

"You can talk." Ice snorted.

"I like how certain he sounds." Aleksandr remarked dryly and Lex chuckled.

"Alright!" Lex held up her hands before the teasing could get anymore carried away. "Enough. Bunk down already!"

Then she wandered over to talk business with Lee. "Do you think we should have a briefing so explain everything?" she asked. "I'm still new to all this CAG stuff."

Lee looked amused. "Yeah, I think a briefing would be a good idea." He said.

Lex shot him an annoyed glance. "Okay, so that was kinda obvious." She said.

Lee just looked at her and Lex could almost hear the implied "duh!". "Do you want to tell them, or should I?" he asked instead.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, the pilots were all assembled in a room of the hanger bay, still noisily talking and teasing each other. It hadn't taken more than a few minutes for the two crews to start acting like they'd known each other for years, which amused Lex. She was happy, though, as she was where she wanted to be.

The briefings were complicated, as there was a lot to get through. Colonial history was complex enough if you didn't add all the issues with Goa'uld, Replicators, Wraith, Asgard, Tok'ra…

Just as Lex was finishing her long story, things got a bit more interesting. "Pass the word: _Prometheus_ advises Goa'uld attack ship just appeared off port side."

At the same time the words were sinking in, Lex caught a flash of light in the hanger bay and swore. A group of Jaffa just ring transported into the hanger, armed and ready to attack. "How'd they do that?" Lee asked from beside her.

Lex grabbed the radio ear piece from her pocket and jammed it into her ear as she answered him. "Ring transporter." She said. "You'd don't have shield technology to block them out."

"We should fix that." Lee muttered.

With a wry smile, Lex flicked on the headpiece. "_Prometheus_, this is Captain O'Neill. Reporting presence of Jaffa aboard the _Galactica_. What are my orders?"

"_Captain O'Neill, this is the _Prometheus_." _Lex heard her mother reply._ "Be advised that we've warned the senior officers aboard the _Galactica_. Contain Jaffa until security teams get there or until other orders are given."_

"Copy that, _Prometheus_." Lex replied.

Grabbing her zat, she looked at Lee. Thankfully, he was also armed with a handgun. "You got any standing orders I should know about?" she asked.

"Only to protect the _Galactica_." Lee replied quickly. "Why?"

"The _Prometheus_ had ordered me to help contain those Jaffa now shooting up your hanger deck until we get other orders or the security teams arrive."

Lee nodded. "Lead on."

Snapping her attention to the wary looking pilots waiting for their orders, with Kara looking especially impatient and aggressive, Lex quickly shifted into command mode, unconsciously mimicking how her father acted in the same situations. "Our orders are to contain the ten Jaffa that transported into the hanger until security teams arrive or we receive other orders." She said. "Merlin, take Bastien and Tex and keep them away from the ships as much as possible. You others, follow me."

With Lee just behind her and off to the side and Ice moving up to flank her on the other, closely followed by Kara, Lex moved quickly down to the hanger bay. Aleksandr, Bastien and Tex had raced off ahead, knowing just how important it was to protect the fighters. Lex motioned for everyone to stop when they got to the open doors and flattened herself against the wall outside. Peering around the doorway, she took note of the number of Goa'uld still left and the heavy fire Aleksandr, Bastien and Tex were taking. She would have to move fast.

She turned to Lee, who stood quietly beside her and nodded her chin towards Crashdown and the other pilots, who were taking cover a little further up the corridor. "Are they any good at this sort of thing?" Lex asked Lee quietly.

Kara, of course, had already taken her place against the wall on the other side of the doorway, next to Ice, and somehow Lex didn't think she'd need to worry about Kara not being able to handle herself in a fight.

Lee glanced at his pilots, also skipping over Kara because he knew she could take care of herself. "Crashdown is, but the others were trained to be pilots." He whispered in answer. "Not Marines."

Lex nodded and waved Crashdown over. He crept up quietly. "Keep the others here and don't let any of the Jaffa escape." She told him.

"Yes, sir." He replied quietly.

Then Lex turned to Ice, who was still patiently waiting on the other side of the doorway. She gave a few sharp hand signals and Ice nodded. As he turned to tell Kara about the plan, Lex did the same with Lee. "Keep close. We're going left." She whispered.

Spinning sharply, Lex burst into the hanger bay, her zat drawn and immediately headed left with Lee on her heels. On the other side, Ice and Kara went right. Acting on the same instinct that came from years of training, Ice and Lex targeted the remaining Jaffa, keeping moving as they wound their way around the hanger. Lee and Kara were a little slower, never having fought Jaffa before, but held their own.

Making sure to keep constantly moving, Lex and Ice drew the Jaffa's fire away from the other pilots. Against the combined onslaught, the Jaffa fell quickly. As soon as the last one was down, Lex glanced towards the deck crew, who had been smart enough to take cover when the Jaffa had arrived, even as she called out orders. Lee was busy confirming with the CIC that all the Jaffa had been confined to the hanger bay. They had been.

"Merlin! Bastien! Take clean up duty!" Lex called out. "And, Ice, check if anyone's injured, will you?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Ice said with an exaggerated salute as the others chuckled.

Lex rolled her eyes and walked over to Lee, to have a quiet word. He, too, was checking if any of his people was injured. "You might want to have a word with the Chief." She said. "Explain to him exactly who just appeared in the middle of his hanger."

"Shouldn't you be the one doing that?" Lee asked.

Lex grinned. "I would, but I have to report in."

Still chuckling softly as Lee walked over to have a word with the Chief, Lex activated her direct link with the _Prometheus_ once more. "_Prometheus_, this is Captain O'Neill." She reported. "All Jaffa aboard the _Galactica_ have been dealt with."

"_Captain O'Neill, this is the _Prometheus_."_ Lex heard her mother answer, still faithfully at her post despite having retired from the military years ago. _"Any injuries?"_

"Nothing more than a few scrapes and bruises and the odd headache." Lex told her.

"_Good."_ Her mother replied and she could hear the relief in her voice._ "The _Prometheus_ will deal with the bodies. We're also sending over a permanent medical officer with some technology and a set of shield generators and a team of scientists to set them up. Hopefully we can avoid any more surprises."_

Lex grinned at the news. "You sound just like Dad when you say that." She reflected. "So who's the lucky medical officer?"

"_Lucas."_ Her mother answered. _"Janet thought he could do with a change of scenery."_

Lex chuckled softly. "Tell him if he's stuck for space he can always come and bunk with us pilots." She said.

Her mother shared her amusement. _"I will."_ She replied. _"But right now I suggest you head up to the CIC to talk to Commander Adama. You'll need to explain the new technology we're sending over and by the time that's done, we'll almost be at Atlantis."_

"Well, as the saying goes, there's no rest for the wicked." Lex sighed.

Saying their goodbyes, Lex disconnected the link and turned to head up to the CIC. Lee fell into step beside her, looking tired himself, just as the call came over the comm. system. "Pass the word: Captain Adama and Captain O'Neill to the CIC."

* * *

Janet glanced up from her desk as a nurse tapped softly on the open hatch of her office. The cramped room was just off the infirmary and gave her a little privacy from all the organised chaos that was usually going on outside.

"Ma'am, President Roslin has arrived." The nurse informed her.

"Thank you." Janet said, getting up.

She was still rather annoyed at the President's withholding of information when she could have been treated, but was trying to remember that she hadn't known her cancer could be treated. And there was still a small possibility that it couldn't – but the chances of that were remote thanks to the advanced technology Earth now possessed. It was just hard as a doctor to see people suffer from something that could have been fixed or prevented.

"Madame President." Janet greeted as she walked out of her office, her combat boots echoing slightly on the metal decking.

That was the only thing she hated about serving in the military, Janet reflected wryly. They just had no sense of décor.

"Doctor Fraiser-Jackson." The President returned the greeting.

She was looking rather nervously around at the various machines and bits of technology that dotted the infirmary. "Doctor Fraiser is fine." Janet told her.

Behind her, a rather amused Commander Adama stood. "Doc." He greeted, using the familiar nickname Janet was always known by.

"Or just Doc." Janet added dryly. "Commander Adama." She greeted with a smile.

"I hope you don't mind, but I've never been fond of doctors." Laura said. "Commander Adama was kind enough to accompany me."

"Bill." Bill corrected, but Laura seemed to ignore him, much to his amusement.

"I'm glad to see you're finding amusement in things." Janet said genuinely to Bill. "I know this wasn't an easy situation to wake up to. And I hope you're not going to pester my nurses so much this time."

Bill just grinned and Janet resisted the urge to roll her eyes. To Laura, Bill said. "There's one thing you should know about the Doc – in her infirmary, she is doesn't bow down to anyone."

"It's the only way I can cope with the regular visits of injured Generals and Commanders." Janet replied as she wandered over to some of her scanning equipment. "If you could take a seat on the bed, Madam President, I'll give you a quick check."

"You might want to add Presidents to that list." Bill said with a grin, enjoying the fact that it wasn't him on one of the beds this time.

Janet shot him a shocked look. "Oh, I hope not." She muttered.

Laura smiled, put at ease by the obvious friendship between Commander Adama and the Doc. She knew that Bill didn't like doctors anymore than she did, but if he made an exception to this one, then everything would be fine.

Seeing Laura's growing unease at the scans progressed, Bill struck up an easy conversation to distract her. It didn't take long until Janet was finished anyway, but not even Bill could take away the unease they both felt at Janet's grave look.

"The cancer is aggressive and advanced." She said. "It's already spread. If we'd treated you about three weeks ago you could have been out of here in an hour. As it is, I'm afraid you'll have to stay overnight for observation."

Laura looked very concerned at this. "Can I ask why?"

Reaching out, Janet picked up a healing device very similar to the one she had set on Commander Adama's wrist to repair the damage from being shot. "It a precaution." She said. "We'll have to give you a fairly high dose of nanites to fix the damage and destroy the cancer cells. That will take time and energy. You'll feel very tired for a while and we'll have to make sure the cancers truly gone before I would be comfortable releasing you."

"Nanites?" Laura repeated.

"Their little machines." Bill said, trying to reassure Laura. "It's what they used on me."

"They're safe." Janet added.

Looking very pale, Laura stared into space for a long moment, as both Bill and Janet sent her increasingly concerned looks. Finally she blinked and looked back at them, tears glistening in her eyes. "I'd almost lost hope." She said. "I didn't think anything could help."

Janet smiled at her, understanding, at least a little of what she was feeling. "Well, if there's one thing I know about the human race, it's that we often do what is considered impossible." Then she flashed them a quick grin. "Much to our allies annoyance it seems sometimes."

"Annoyance?" Laura asked.

Janet nodded. "Yes." She agreed. "They can feel superior if we keep doing things they can't."

At that moment, a call went over the internal comm. system of the _Prometheus_. "Goa'uld hatak-class ship incoming. Crew to battle stations."

Janet glanced up as the lighting changed subtly and the call echoed over the infirmary. "Emergency medical team on standby." She ordered, not seeming too concerned about the new events. Then she turned to Lucas, who was monitoring Dr. Baltar on the other side of the infirmary. "Lucas, head the team will you?"

"Yes, ma'am." He called with a small smile.

"I'd better head back to the _Galactica_." Bill said, before adding to Laura in a low voice. "Sorry. I'll try and visit again."

"I understand, Commander." Laura replied.

Janet nodded to Bill and headed over to the wall to call for transport. As soon as that was done, Janet returned to finish checking over the medical device she was going to give to Laura, seemingly oblivious to the flurry of activity behind her. Laura envied her calm a little, as it was something she herself always strived to achieve.

As if somehow sensing the direction of her thoughts, Janet looked up and flashed Laura an amused smile. "Once you've weathered a few hundred crisis around here, you aren't so bothered by them anymore."

"There has been that many?" Laura asked.

Janet's look turned wry. "Our enemies are very persistent." She said. "But considering we're worse, I wouldn't worry about it. With us on your side, you can't loose." She added with a wink.

"I'm beginning to see that." Laura agreed with a smile of her own.

To Be Continued…


	14. Journey to Atlantis

Author's Note: The next chapter is finally here! Man, I have been soooo buried under homework for the last two weeks that I have not even seen the Sun! I am really, really sorry that this took so long, but it's countdown to exam time and I guess everyone knows what that's like ;)

Hope you like this chap!

Cheeky.

* * *

The Thirteenth Colony:

Chapter Thirteen:

By cheeky-chaos

Jack yawned as the _Prometheus_ dropped out of hyperspace after its latest jump. He was really, really tired. In fact, he wasn't sure if he could remember when he last got some decent sleep. Beside him, his wife tried not to do the same, feeling just as tired as Jack. Finally, they were not more than an hour's trip from Atlantis, were Jack hoped he could catch a little rest, but rather doubted it.

"_Galactica_ reports that fleet all present and accounted for." Sam told him, as he caught the last flashes of the FTL drives of the other ships.

"Good." Jack replied. "Set course for Atlantis."

Slumping down lower in his chair, Jack wondered which crisis was going to hit next. He had already informed John (General Sheppard) about the fleet's imminent arrival, and the SGC was helping them prepare for the influx of refugees, because that's essentially what they were. Dr. Elizabeth Weir (she still refused to go by her husband's surname within the programme) had successfully argued for the SGC not to send a large team of diplomats with the supplies, much to Jack's delight. He got on well with Elizabeth, but dealing with diplomats wasn't his favourite pastime.

Groaning inwardly at the things still left to do, before this situation was even remotely solved, Jack ran his hands over his face. The Cylons had to be dealt with and whether the Cylon Resistance could be trusted, let alone contacted. Dr. Baltar had to be dealt with. All the civilians within the refugee fleet had to be checked over, both medically and to confirm they weren't Cylons. And there was always the Goa'uld and Wraith to worry about.

Jack sighed. _And those were only the immediate problems_, he reflected wryly.

"Jack?" Sam's soft voice broke into his thoughts. "You've got a calling coming in from Atlantis."

"John?" Jack asked.

Sam nodded, as she connected the video-link between the _Prometheus_ and Atlantis. "Hey, Jack." General John Sheppard greeted his old friend when his face appeared on the screen before Jack.

"Hey, John." Jack returned the greeting.

"How's it going?" John asked, a small smile playing at the corner of his mouth, as if he knew exactly what Jack was feeling.

Jack raised an eyebrow. "How do you think its going?" he asked. "It's a nightmare!"

John chuckled at Jack's outburst. He could definitely sense the feeling behind those words. "Don't worry." He said. "It'll be both our nightmares soon. How far are you from Atlantis?"

Glancing at the pilot, Moretti, Jack shrugged. "Less than forty minutes, sir." Moretti told him.

"Wonderful." John muttered. "Well, we're all ready on this end."

"That's good to hear." Jack said. "We've got quite a few problems to sort out, and soon."

"So I hear." John replied. "Elizabeth is reading up on everything as we speak."

"Thought she might be." Jack smiled dryly.

"Any new developments?"

"Since the Goa'uld attack? Not really." Jack answered. "Although, the Doc reports that Commander Adama is getting better and the President is responding very well to her treatment."

"That's a piece of good news." John reflected.

"It is." Jack agreed.

Watching his friend, John noticed the exhaustion behind his eyes. "Hopefully there'll be more."

"I wouldn't count on it." Jack replied.

Saying goodbye to his old friend, Jack watched the video-link wink out, before slumping further down into his chair and shutting his eyes. No matter what the Doc said, it was at times like these that he thought he was getting too old for this. Somehow, Jack knew that his plans of retirement had gone out the window – at least for a little while. He was needed to fix this mess first.

* * *

Laura stared at the papers on her desk, not really seeing them. The waiting, after so many long months of it, was getting unbearable. Judging by the updates she was getting from the _Galactica_, the fleet had made the last jump successfully and they would be arriving at Atlantis in less than an hour.

The President let out a sigh and put her glasses down on the desk, giving up all pretence that she was actually reading one of the many documents on her desk. She was feeling rather restless, as if she just wanted everything over and done with already. Laura knew the amount of work that was coming and just wanted it over – but as President of the Twelve Colonies, it was her duty to ensure the safety of her people.

No doubt, round after round of talks would start as soon as they reached Atlantis, not to mention a million crises. She would have to finally make a decision about the Cylons and deal with the Cylon Resistance – not to mention what they were going to do about Sharon and her child. Laura sighed again. Was it too much to ask for it all to be over and done already?

"Penny for your thoughts?" Bill asked, from where he stood just inside the doorway.

Laura gave a tired smile in greeting, and gestured for him to come and join her at her desk. "Just realising how much there is still left to do." She said. "Everyone was so focused on finding Earth that we never really thought about what would happen when we did. I mean, not really. We had our daydreams, but the reality was forgotten."

Bill gave a wry smile. "Even more so in my case, I'm afraid to admit. I don't think I ever truly believed Earth existed…at least, not until I woke up and confronted it."

Seeing the pain in his eyes, Laura reached across the table and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. Somehow, that basic human touch gave each of them comfort. "I'm not even sure I truly believed." Laura admitted softly. "Sometimes, I wondered if I just believed so strongly because it was a way of dealing with the fact that I was going to die."

Even as she spoke, her eyes drifted to the device she wore around her wrist. She still found it a little hard to believe that her cure was coming from such a small device. It was a smaller version than the one she had worn earlier, as it was only needed to monitor for a reappearance of the cancer. Bill's eyes followed hers and this time, he was the one to offer comfort. Giving the hand still on his a gentle squeeze, he said softly. "We would have found a way to save you."

"Would you?" Laura turned dark green eyes on him, and Bill saw the deep running fear behind them.

"Yes." He said, knowing it was true.

"Because I'm the President?" Something inside Laura made her ask.

"No, because you were – and still are – the only person that can lead us through this." Bill answered.

Strangely disappointed in his answer, Laura merely blinked and didn't contradict his answer, even though she was pretty sure Bill had done an equal amount of the leading. "Oh."

"Would you rather I said that I don't want you to die?" Bill wondered what had possessed his tongue to make him admit that out loud. But it was worth it, just to see the smile that blossomed over her face.

Feeling especially pleased, Laura nodded. "Yes, I really think I would."

Unfortunately, the moment was broken by Billy, who poked his head inside Laura's office. "Sorry to interrupt, Madame President, but General O'Neill has informed us that we'll be coming up on Atlantis very soon."

Both Bill and Laura visibly pulled themselves back into command mode and the layers of formality went back up. "I'd better be getting back to the _Galactica_, Madam President." He said, standing.

Laura nodded. "Of course, Commander." She said.

With a final nod and glance in her direction, Bill left to catch the shuttle back to the _Galactica_. Laura watched him leave for a second, before turning back to Billy. Her aide was still hovering in the doorway, meaning there was something else he wanted to say, but not so sure he should. Hiding a smile, Laura looked at him. "Was there something else, Billy?"

"Umm, well Madame President, I was wondering…" Billy began.

"You want to watch our arrival at Atlantis?" Laura interrupted him.

"Yes, ma'am." Billy admitted, blushing slightly.

"You know," Laura said, grabbing her jacket. "I wouldn't mind seeing that myself."

* * *

Lex sighed and drummed her fingers on the desk in front of her. "Do you have to do that?" Lee asked, sitting opposite her and doing his paperwork.

"Yes." Lex replied with a frown. "I'm restless. And I can't annoy anyone else on this ship!"

The fleet was minutes out from Atlantis and as a result, Lex and the other pilots weren't actually needed out on patrol. They had been given a much needed rest, which most were using to catch up on sleep. Lex wasn't one of them. Much like her father, she just couldn't cope with sitting still for too long.

"What about Lucas?" Lee asked mildly, still not looking up from his paperwork.

"He's busy monitoring Dr. Baltar and the President." Lex said with a frown.

Now Lee looked up, a mixture of amusement and annoyance in his expression. Strangely, it was almost exactly the same expression her mother wore when her father was in one of his restless moods. "Surely, not every single pilot aboard is asleep?"

"If they're not asleep, I can't find 'em." Lex muttered grumpily.

"Well then, what about the Chief?" Lee asked. "I know he wanted to talk to you about those_ Interceptors_."

Lex nodded, but reluctantly. "Yeah, he did." She admitted.

Realising he wasn't going to get anything done until Lex left, Lee gave up trying to read the report in his hand and put it down. "Alright, what is it?" he asked.

"Everyone keeps staring at me. Like they're in awe or something."

"They are." Lee said mildly.

Lex shot him an annoyed look and got up to start pacing. "Yeah, well I don't want them to be, okay?" she said. "And your pilots are the worst! It's not like I can walk on water or anything."

"What brought this on?" Lee asked, puzzled. "You were getting along with them fine earlier!"

"That was before I caught them staring moon-eyed at me!"

Lee shook his head. "Why don't you just go and have a nice chat to the Chief? He won't stare moon-eyed at you and the rest of them will get over it soon enough."

Lex snorted in disbelief. "Hey, I do know what I'm talking about, remember? Commander Adama's son?"

Lex looked sheepish. "Yeah, sorry." She said. "I'll go and talk to the Chief."

"You do that." Lee said, watching her dart out of his office and close the hatch behind her.

Sighing in relief at the peacefulness, Lee looked back down at his paper work and was about to start reading the report again, when someone knocked on the closed hatch. "Lee?"

Stifling a groan, Lee recognised Kara's voice. "Come in." he called, taking the Gods suggestion that he take a break from the paperwork for a while.

Kara ducked into the office and shut the hatch behind her. "Hi, Lee." She said, sounding just a touch anxious.

"Hey, Starbuck." Lee replied, not too annoyed at the interruption anymore.

"I raided those new supplies being handed out in the mess and wondered if you wanted to share the spoils with me?"

The bright smile hid the uncertainty Kara still felt. Her disappearance had affected her relationship with Lee, as had her actions before it. She still wasn't quite sure what was going on, or if she had the courage to change it some more. So she was playing it safe for now, much to her own disgust.

"Yeah?" Lee said. "What have you got?"

Lee noticed the uncertainty in Kara's approach – she had never been that tentative before. She had no problem bursting in on him, no matter what he was doing, usually. Including having a shower, dressing, sleeping…

"Well, seems Earth has some fairly decent chocolate. And I managed to grab a couple of sandwiches with actual vegetables in them." Kara said with another grin.

"Chocolate?" Lee asked hopefully.

Laughing, Kara kept the bars of chocolate hidden in her pocket and handed him a sandwich. She knew Lee's sweet tooth well and if she gave him the chocolate now, he wasn't likely to eat anything else.

Lee shot her a teasing look. "This doesn't look like any chocolate I've ever seen." He said.

"It called a sandwich." Kara said, thumping down into the chair on the opposite side of the desk. "Eat it."

Lee rolled his eyes. "Yes, mother."

Kara snorted loudly at that and almost choked on her mouthful of sandwich. "What, did you forget how to chew?" Lee asked her.

Kara narrowed her eyes. "Very funny."

"I thought so." Lee replied with a small smirk.

"You're entirely too full of yourself, Adama." Kara snapped.

Lee snorted. "You can talk!"

"Yes, I can." She replied. "Glad you've noticed."

The pair shared a look and then burst out into laughter. Grinning at the ease they had fallen back into their familiar teasing, Lee and Kara enjoyed the rest of their sandwiches, but they were careful to keep the conversation away from anything about the disappearance – or Earth. That was something they could talk about later.

"So," Lee said, eyes Kara. "Where's that chocolate?"

"What chocolate?" Kara asked, feigning innocence.

Lee narrowed his eyes. "The chocolate you said you swiped from the mess."

Kara grinned. "Oh, _that_ chocolate." She said.

"Yeah." Lee agreed, still regarding Kara warily. "Where is it?"

"Would it look anything like this?" Kara asked, drawing two chocolate bars from her pocket.

Lee's eyes hungrily followed the chocolates as Kara waved them around. She laughed. "Oh, you want them bad!"

Lee narrowed his eyes and glared at Kara. "Give them to me." He growled.

Kara pretended to consider that for a moment, still dancing around to keep the chocolates out of Lee's grasp. "No." she said with a cocky grin.

"_Now_, Lieutenant!"

Kara hid the chocolate behind her back. "Make me!"

Lee stood up and Kara backed up, alert for any trick he was going to pull. Raising an eyebrow sardonically, he said. "Don't you think I can?" he asked, deceptively mild.

Still with a cocky grin on her face, Kara retorted. "No one beats the mighty Starbuck!"

"Except the mighty Apollo!" Lee replied. "I've done it before and I can do it again."

"In your dreams, maybe!"

Eyes narrowed in determination, Lee advanced on Kara slowly. She stood her ground as Lee stalked towards her, waiting for the right moment to dart past him. Judging her timing, she suddenly moved, making to slip past him and around the other side of the desk. But Lee was too fast for her. Strong arms grabbed her and trapped her against a firm body. "Now what are you going to do, oh mighty Starbuck?" Lee asked in her ear.

Kara wriggled and struggled for a bit, but Lee's arms were too strong for her and she was caught in an awkward position, with her arms trapped behind her back. "You know, if I didn't like you, you'd be writhing on the floor in agony by now." Kara remarked.

Lee winced, understanding her meaning. "It's a good thing you like me then." He said.

Kara struggled some more and managed to twist in his grip, so she was facing Lee and smashed up against his chest, just in time to see his blue eyes darken, like storm clouds rolling in. She stilled and, chocolate momentarily forgotten, stared up into those amazing eyes.

Lee stared intently back at Kara, never blinking and seemingly holding her enthralled in his gaze. He seemed on the verge of leaning down and crashing his lips on hers in a passionate kiss…

…when there was a knock and the hatch swung open. "Lee…" Lex's voiced began, before stopping when she caught sight of the pair still tangled together in the middle of the office.

They sprang apart, Lee looking a little guilty. "Hey, Lex." He greeted, trying very hard to sound casual, like he hadn't been about to kiss his lead pilot senseless.

"I can come back later." Lex said with a smirk, not fooled for a second.

"No, it's okay." Lee said, seizing on the distraction as guilt, embarrassment and regret surged through him. Had he really been about to kiss Kara? "Come in. Starbuck was just depriving me of chocolate."

Kara caught sight of the soft, easy smile he flashed Lex and instantly felt jealous. There had once been a time when smiles like that were only directed at her, and she didn't like to share.

"Didn't know you had such a sweet tooth, Lee." Lex commented, coming to sit down in front of Lee's desk and sensing the tension still in the air.

"Yeah, well, if you spread it around, I'll just deny it." Lee said, also coming to sit down, behind the desk.

Lex chuckled. "Your secret's safe with me." She said, noticing Kara's glare in her direction.

Lex just grinned broader. She knew she had interrupted a potentially pivotal moment between the two, but felt surprisingly little remorse about it. Lee was looking more and more uncomfortable about what he had almost done (silly boy!) and Kara was just looking very irritated. Already plotting wickedly in her head, Lex wondered how much she would have to push those two until they kicked her out of the office and finished what they had been about to start.

Kara glared at Lex, who seemed to be sitting quite unconcerned at the desk and grinning up at her. Not many people could withstand Starbuck's lethal "drop-dead" glare and she felt her respect for the other woman grow. Of course, that didn't mean she wouldn't knock her unconscious the first chance she got. She shared Lee's secrets, and while in Kara's mind that was enough to equal death, she had also intruded on what could have been a great moment – if both of them had managed to get over their uncertainty and fear, anyway.

"Pass the word: Captain Adama to the CIC." Dee's voice intoned over the internal PA system. "Captain Adama to the CIC."

"Uh…" Lee began. "I've got to go."

"We're fine here." Kara told him.

Lex grinned even broader. "Yes, we are." She agreed.

Lee was a bit nervous about leaving the two women alone in his office, even for a second, but it seemed he had no choice. He was needed in the CIC. "Just don't kill each other, okay?" he said on his way out the hatch. "I don't want to have to explain this to my father."

The two women didn't reply, as Kara continued to glare at Lex, while she just kept on grinning. "You don't like me very much, do you?" Lex asked.

"Not really." Kara answered.

Lex laughed. "Finally!" she cried happily.

Kara narrowed her gaze. "You're happy I don't like you?"

"Yeah." Lex said, with a sigh. "So many other dratted people on this boat seem to be convinced I can walk on water."

"Well, I don't." Kara muttered.

Lex grinned again. "I know." She said. "And those pilots of yours? They're the worst!"

"Nuggets." Kara corrected.

"Huh?" Lex asked.

"They're called nuggets."

Lex laughed. "Rookies." She said, realising what Kara meant. "I was trying to be nice."

Kara frowned. "That's what I really don't like about you." She said with her characteristic bluntness. "You're always frakking nice!"

"That and I'm too close to your Captain." Lex added, deciding to use her own bluntness to get to the heart of the matter.

Kara blinked. "So, you're friends." She said, feigning casualness that she didn't feel. "Why would I care?"

"You love him." Lex said, before deciding to deliberately provoke Kara and getting to her feet. "And why not? He seems to be a very loveable guy. Nice ass, too."

Giving in to her instincts, even though part of her mind knew it wasn't going to do much (except make her feel a lot better), Kara reached back and swung at Lex with one of her infamous punches, straight at her jaw.

Even expecting something like it, the punch caught Lex a little unawares, and she saw stars when it connected with her jaw. Blinking them away, she staggered backwards and probably would have fallen over, if she hadn't caught the desk. Narrowing her eyes, Lex did the only thing she could – she retaliated.

This time it was Kara who staggered backwards a little, as Lex's fist connected with her cheek bone. Rubbing her jaw, she looked at Kara. "Feel better now?" she asked.

Kara narrowed her eyes. "Not really." She said, rubbing her own face. "Were you trying to give me a black eye?"

"Yes." Lex said. "Were you trying to knock my head off?"

"Yes." Kara said, this time a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

With a sigh, Lex flopped back down onto the chair in front of Lee's desk. "Ow." She grumbled. "I feel like I've just slammed into a brick wall!"

This time Kara couldn't quite keep the smile off her face. "So do I." she said. "Where'd you learn to punch like that? I though nice girls didn't hit people."

"Why does everyone think I'm so nice?" Lex muttered. "And if you'd grown up with the family I have, you'd know how to knock people unconscious too."

"You didn't knock me unconscious." Kara pointed out.

Lex gave her a sidelong look. "Doesn't mean I don't know how." She said.

That surprised a laugh out of Kara. Shaking her head, she looked at Lex. "Careful." She said. "I'm getting dangerously close to liking you."

Lex smiled. "Well, to fix that problem, I'm going to give you some advice that you're not going to like." She said. "Throw Lee up against a wall and…well, you get the idea."

Kara gaped at Lex for a minute, not entirely sure how to take that blunt statement. Kara was usually blunt herself, but she wasn't sure she liked the unvarnished truth pointed in her direction.

Lex rolled her eyes at Kara's expression. "Oh, come on!" she snapped. "You can't take your eyes off each other, you're always kicking each other's asses and you don't even need words to communicate sometimes! How is this not obvious?"

Kara frowned. "I could have gone all day without someone pointing that out, you know." She said.

"I know." Lex agreed with an impish smile. "It's probably why I said it. Now, do you want to come and see Atlantis from the observation deck with me? We should be hitting orbit soon."

* * *

When Lex stepped onto _Galactica's_ observation deck, she noticed she wasn't the only one who had had the same idea. Some of her fellow pilots sat in the corner, playing a game of pyramid of all things and Billy Keikeya had his nose pressed against the glass in excitement. Lee, Bill Adama and President Roslin were also on the observation deck, standing in a little group and talking quietly.

At her appearance Lee looked up, his eyes sliding from her to Kara, who was only a step or two behind her. Frowning, he excused himself from Bill and Laura and walked over to Lex and Kara. "Those aren't the beginnings of bruises, are they?" he asked, noticing the slight marks on their faces.

"Of course not." Kara said with a grin.

Lee just continued to frown at her. Suppressing a smile, Lex turned back to both of them. "You're missing the view, guys." She said.

Blinking in surprise at the sight they saw, all the Colonials on the observation desk looked down at the planet below the. The city of Atlantis sat majestically on the ocean of the planet, the Athosian Continent just visible behind it. The sun was setting in a blaze of fire behind the regal city, painting the spires with slashes of red. Since they were only in orbit, the city looked smaller than it actually was, but you could see the main tower rising up in the centre and the rest of the city spreading out away from it.

"Wow." Lee breathed.

"She's something, isn't she?" Lex agreed.

"And you built her?" Lee turned to ask her.

Smiling, Lex shook her head. "No, we're not smart enough to do that yet. She was built by the Ancients."

"A city of the Gods." Kara breathed.

Lex's smile widened. "Welcome to the lost city of Atlantis." She said.

To Be Continued…


	15. Under Attack!

Author's Note: Yay! Here's another chapter!

Just want to say thank you again for all the reviews! It's really nice of you all to take the effort to let me know what you think!

Cheeky.

P.S. Thanks for all the good luck for the exams. I think I'm going to need it :(

* * *

The Thirteenth Colony:

Chapter Thirteen:

By cheeky-chaos

"Jack!" John greeted with a grin, as his friend appeared in Atlantis' 'gateroom with a flash of white light.

"Hey, John." He grinned back.

Jack had arrived, via his usual dramatic entrance, in the middle of Atlantis' 'gateroom with Daniel to check that everything was ready. "Are we ready to start transporting down the survivors?" he asked John, walking up the stairs to the control room above, where John was standing.

"Yeah." John replied. "Carson's got the infirmary on standby and seems quite excited about working with Doc Fraiser again. Are you going to send them down via the transporter or ship?"

Jack nodded at John's mention of Dr. Carson Beckett, the CMO of Atlantis. "Ship." He answered. "It's easier than transporting them all, and less shocking."

"When have you ever not liked shocking people, Jack?" John asked with a grin.

"Well, never." Jack agreed. "But no one would let me."

The two men laughed as Daniel wandered over, having had a quick word with Elizabeth. He raised an eyebrow at the joke his two friends were obviously sharing, but didn't say anything. "The _Prometheus_ and _Galactica_ will be in orbit for a while, and we'll start transfer as soon as I get back." Jack told John.

John shook his head. "That's all you came down to tell me?" he asked.

"You know Jack." Daniel said dryly. "A phone call just wouldn't do."

The three men laughed, before Jack and Daniel beamed back up to the _Prometheus_. "I see those two are having fun." Elizabeth said as she walked up.

"Yeah." John agreed. "Sometimes I wonder just how insane the Council was to let them fly around the universe in a BC-303. I mean, did they realise the havoc they could cause?"

"Oh, I think they had a good idea." Elizabeth replied. "I mean, look who they chose as Generals to run the place?"

* * *

Jack yawned as he sipped his morning coffee. Well, morning according to Atlantis anyway. He still felt like it was the middle of the night. The _Prometheus_ and the _Galactica_ were still in orbit, and the _U.N.E.S. Daedalus_ was out on its usual patrol circuit. Some of Atlantis' scientists had fitted the Galactica with a shield generator and everyone had been resupplied by Earth. Everything was a normal as it got around here.

He sat back in his chair on the _Prometheus'_ bridge and stared down at the planet below him. Jack was waiting for the other shoe to drop, as it were. He knew from experience, that it was never quiet for long. He wondered who it would be – the Goa'uld, the Wraith or the Cylons?

Jack didn't have to wait long to find out. He was just beginning to enjoy the peace and quiet, when Karl Agathon and a very pale and shaken looking Sharon Valerii walked onto the bridge. "What is it?" Jack asked, getting straight to the point and fearing the worse.

Sharon looked over at him, pain and fear in her eyes. "As much as I didn't want to do this for a while, I think you need to ask Commander Adama and the President to hear this." She said softly. "I don't think I can say this twice."

Jack was immediately concerned and felt that prickling sensation he always had when things were about to get really, really bad. "Do you need the Doc?" he asked.

Sharon shook her head. "No, but I need to tell you something important."

Jack nodded. Since the "day" shift hadn't officially started, Sam wasn't at her post yet, so Jack leaned over and flicked one of the buttons, thankful he actually knew what some of them did. "Danny, is that you?" he asked. "You'd better get up to the bridge. Bring Teal'c and Sam with you. Oh, and Janet. We might need her point of view."

"_Sure, Jack."_ Daniel answered, picking up on his friend's tone, and not bothering to ask what was wrong. He knew he'd find out soon enough.

It didn't take more than a few minutes for Daniel, Sam and Teal'c to arrive on the bridge. Janet was not far behind. Immediately, she went over to Sharon. "What's wrong?" she asked the younger woman.

"That's not why I wanted you here, Janet." Jack said quietly. "Perhaps we'd better continue this in my office. And Sam, can you get Commander Adama and President Roslin over here?"

Sam nodded, as the others all moved into Jack's "office". The small room was more a cross between an emergency meeting room and makeshift office for most of the senior staff, than Jack's directly, but it was useful enough. It was a tense wait for the arrival and Commander Adama and President Roslin, with Sharon not able to stay still for very long.

"What's going on?" Bill asked when he walked into the room and saw Sharon.

"I'm sorry." Jack told him. "But she has something important to tell us that you need to hear."

Bill nodded, but took the seat the furthest away from Sharon as he could. With a worried look, Laura joined him. She, too, wasn't sure what to make of Sharon and didn't seem entirely comfortable with her presence.

"It will be probably best if I just say it." Sharon said, attempting to still her pacing. "A few hours ago, another copy of Cylon Model Number Eight was killed." She held her hand up to stop the questions. "I know this, because her memories were downloaded into my brain."

The last sounded a little disdainful, because strange as it was, Sharon didn't like to think of herself as a machine. She knew that some of the other copies of herself did think that way, but somehow she had never felt that uniformity some of the other models had. She felt different from all the other copies, like they were all some sort of weird set of twins or something.

"It seems that I'm really not the only one to question what all Cylons have been taught to believe. She was a leader of the Cylon Resistance. Along with copies of Number Two and Number Seven, she was trying to stop the Cylons from destroying humanity." Sharon continued.

It helped to talk about the other copy as she was another person, but Sharon was beginning to wonder if she really had a right to believe of herself as a person anymore. Nevertheless, she continued to talk. This needed to be said.

"Before she died, she learnt something disturbing. Three Basestars are on there way here, to this planet, with the sole purpose of destroying us."

Sharon paused for a moment, letting that sink in. She heard a lot of muttered curses at her words, and forced herself to keep going. "But that's not all. She overheard Number Six talking to the Cylon God. He said he had once been a ruler of Earth and would be once again. He called the Cylons his secret army."

Jack cursed louder this time. "Who exactly is this Cylon God?" he snapped. "You make him sound like he was actually there."

Sharon gave a sardonic smile. "He is." She said. "I always believed that he appeared as a glowing spirit to show us how similar we were to humans, but I now know that's not true. But he walks among us all the same."

Jack shared a look with Daniel, before closing his eyes. "This is bad. This is really, really, really bad." He said.

"Indeed." Teal'c agreed.

"What's going on?" Bill asked.

"Does your 'god' have a name?" Daniel asked softly, the same mixture of fear and disbelief on his face.

"Anubis." Sharon replied softly. "Number Six called him Anubis."

Jack swore loudly and in as many languages as he could, making Daniel's eyebrows rise. Then he stood up. "Tell them, Danny." He said, sounding far more tired than he had a moment ago. "I have to go and tell Atlantis and the SGC."

Sam got up to go with him, sending an apologetic smile to Daniel and placing a comforting hand on her husband's arm. They all knew exactly what this meant – and it definitely wasn't pretty.

"This has something to do with the Goa'uld, doesn't it?" Laura asked.

"Yes." Daniel said. "Anubis is by far the nastiest Goa'uld we've ever come across – mainly because he once ascended, just like the Ancients. They cast him back down to this plane, but it wasn't complete. He has no substantial form, instead appearing as a glowing being."

"And that's not even the beginning of our problems." Daniel continued. "He can pass through matter and he has as much knowledge of Ancient technology as we do, possibly more. But worst, he has an absolute hatred of humans. Unlike the other Goa'uld, who wants to enslave us, Anubis just wants to destroy us."

There was a long moment of silence as everyone absorbed this.

"And now he has a Cylon army." Bill said.

"Indeed." Teal'c agreed.

* * *

Lex was sitting in the _Galactica's_ mess hall, sipping a mug of coffee, when the first blast hit. She was slammed against the table she was sitting at, forcing the air from her lungs, before she realised what had happened. She swore loudly and surged to her feet, leaving everything where it was, then glanced at Merlin, who had been sitting with her. Together, the pair began to sprint towards the hanger as another blast slammed into the _Galactica_.

Lex staggered a little, and Merlin reached out a hand to steady her, as he fought to keep his own balance. He swore heartily under his breath in Russian, making Lex smile a little, despite the serious situation. The new shield generator seemed to be holding up, but Lex could tell by the way the ship bucked after every shot, that there were some serious weapons pointed in their direction. Only one question filtered through her mind as she ran – was it Cylon or Wraith?

"Battle stations!" Dee's call echoed over the chaotic activity. "Pilots to fighters! Repeat: battle stations!"

"What's going on?" Lex snapped at Lee as soon as she hit the hanger bay.

"No one knows." Lee replied as the pair hurried into their gear and grabbed their helmets. "The shots came out of nowhere!"

Lex suppressed the shudder of fear she felt at that and scrambled into her fighter. "Flight control, this is Viper." She said into the comm. as she strapped herself in and fired up the engines. "Request permission to launch."

"Viper, this is flight control." Came the reply. "You are cleared for immediate launch out the port side."

"Copy that." Lex said quickly, her engines kicking in.

Adrenaline surged and she felt the familiar urgency to get out there. She sped out into the black of space, immediately searching for the direction those blasts had come from. But just like Lee had said, space was empty. Lex swore – their enemy was hiding behind a cloak.

"Viper, can you see anything?" Lee asked, his _Viper_ coming up next to her _Interceptor_.

"Nothing." Lex replied. "That's what scares me."

But Lex wanted to take those words back a second later, when three enormous ships uncloaked before them. Not seeing them had not been as scary as looking at them – that was for sure! "Frak!" Lee said explosively. "Cylon Basestars!"

Lex swore just as loudly, and spoke at the same time Lee did. "Goa'uld motherships!"

The three enormous ships looked very similar to Goa'uld motherships, but were in fact a hybridization of Cylon, Goa'uld and even a little Ancient technology. But it wasn't just the enormous size, or the impressive looking weapons each ship possessed, Lex reflected, but the fact there were no windows – as if those inside did not need to look out.

Lex shivered as the chaos of comm. traffic increased. The Skipper began to yell orders, having scrambled out of the _Prometheus' _hanger at the same time Lex had flown out of the _Galactica's _bay. The _Galactica_ and _Prometheus_ also began to send out orders, more voices added to the already frenzied mix Out the corner of her eyes, Lex could see Atlantis readying herself for battle, with the weapons towers powering up, and a squadron of puddle-jumpers was launched. The _Prometheus_ was beginning to break orbit in order to help in the fight, and fighters were pouring out from everywhere.

As she watched, the three large Basestars opened their hanger bays and wave upon wave of fighters poured out. A cold shiver of fear travelled down Lex's spine at the sheer numbers of Raiders that she was seeing. There were almost a hundred of them!

"Form up!" Lex ordered her pilots, her hands already flying frantically over the controls. "_Galactica_, this is Viper. What are my orders?"

"_Viper, this is _Galactica_." _Dee's voice replied. _"Orders are to engage those Raiders!"_

"Copy that, _Galactica_." Lex didn't need to be told twice.

It was at that moment that a general call sounded through the fleet. _"Attention all U.N.E and Colonial fighters."_ It was Grodin, transmitting from Atlantis. _"An open comm. between Atlantis, the _Prometheus_ and the _Galactica_ has been established. Address all enquiries to Command."_

Lex blinked a little, but continued what she was doing. It made sense to just have all the commanding officers on the one line, so no orders would get confused or doubled up. But Lex really didn't have time to think about that. Those Raiders were incoming!

Her wingmates formed up behind her, Lex accelerated forward, moving to engage the Raiders. "Tex, Torch, Ice – peel left!" she ordered. "Merlin, you're with me!"

"_Be careful out there!"_ Jack's voice echoed out over the comm. traffic._ "Those are not just Cylons. Anubis is…damn it!"_

His voice was cut of as the _Prometheus_ took a direct hit from the largest Basestar. Lex suppressed a shiver of fear. Anubis had control of the Cylons? That was one of the scariest things she had ever heard!

"Anubis is a Goa'uld, right?" Lee asked, his eyes on the approaching Raiders.

"The scariest one of all." Lex replied softly.

* * *

Sighing with frustration, Jack sat back in his chair and looked at John's worried face. Since the shocking news from Sharon, he had managed (with Sam's help) to send of a detailed message to the SGC and tell John what was happening. Right now they were trying to come up with the best defence plan, which was hard, because they just didn't know how far away Anubis was – and the scans weren't picking up anything.

"The civilian ships have all been grounded." John told Jack, his tone just as weary as Jack's had been. "And we've moved all the Colonials into the lower rooms. They should be safe there. We're also sending out a call to the Athosians – but Jack, some of the hunting parties are days out! I don't know how long it's going to take to get them all back to Atlantis."

"If they're all willing to come." Jack pointed out, knowing just how stubborn people could be.

"Yeah, there's that too." John agreed with a grimace. "But Teyla should be able to convince them."

Just at that moment, Jack was almost jolted from his chair as a blast slammed into the _Prometheus_. Jack saw the sparking colours of the shield as it absorbed the impact and Jack noticed, just behind John, that Atlantis had received a similar assault. Sharing a look, the two men cut the connection between Atlantis and the _Prometheus_, to focus on the immediate attack.

"Where the hell did that come from?" Jack snapped.

"I don't know, sir!" Woodward replied, as another shot slammed into the _Prometheus_. "There's nothing showing up on the scanners!"

"Send everyone to battlestations!" Jack ordered. "Evasive manoeuvres!"

Another blast shot out of space and slammed into the _Prometheus_. Jack swore again, however, this time he managed to get a better grip on his chair and didn't come so close to flying out of it. "Find me that ship!" Jack snapped, wanting a target to fire at. "Launch the _Interceptors_! And send a report to the SGC!"

There was a flurry of activity as everyone rushed to follow his orders, but Jack wasn't paying attention. He was too busy scanning the empty looking space before him as his mind whirled with options and plans. It seemed Anubis had arrived earlier than anyone had expected – and his technology was a lot better than Jack would have liked.

"Damn it, why can't you find anything?" he snapped towards Woodward, but his anger was directed more towards Anubis.

"I'm sorry sir, but the scanners just aren't picking anything up!"

"Shields are holding, sir." Petrovsky relayed. "The blasts are from some sort of high energy weapon, similar to the one we found on the Ha'tak. Just a lot more refined."

Jack swore again, under his breath. "Figures that Anubis would have access to all the best Goa'uld technology!" he muttered.

"The second something appears, shoot it!" he ordered in a louder voice.

"Yes, sir." Woodward and Petrovsky answered.

It was then that three large ships seemed to wink into existence. One moment they weren't there, the next they were. "Target those ships, Lieutenant!" Jack ordered, even as Lieutenant Petrovsky began to fire at the lead ship.

The three enormous ships that had just appeared were rather frightening, as there were a hybridization of Cylon, Goa'uld and even a little Ancient technology. The looked very similar to Goa'uld motherships, but different at the same time. The ships had impressive weapons and very good shielding, but the lack of windows was a little eerie. Jack wasn't sure if he wanted to know what was inside those things and would be quite content to blow them out of the proverbial sky.

By the time the ships appeared, the _Prometheus'_ remaining _Interceptors_ had launched from the hanger in response to the attack and they joined the _Interceptors _and _Vipers_ that had just appeared from the _Galactica_. Comm. traffic increased, the usually chaotic sounds echoing over the bridge becoming more frantic. Atlantis began to prepare to help fight, the weapons system coming online as puddle-jumpers were launched.

"Break orbit!" Jack ordered to Moretti. "I want as much room to manoeuvre as we can get. Keep firing!"

Jack kept watching, even as he fired orders at his crew, and he saw the three large Basestars open impressively large hanger bays and wave upon wave of eerie looking Raiders pour out. Jack narrowed his eyes grimly at the sheer numbers of Raiders that had been launched. There were almost a hundred of them and they would not be easy to deal with.

Sam looked up at him then. "Atlantis has opened a connection between us, themselves and the _Galactica_." She said.

About a second later, Jack heard Grodin's voice over the comm._ "Attention all U.N.E and Colonial fighters. An open comm. between Atlantis, the Prometheus and the Galactica has been established. Address all enquiries to Command."_

Jack nodded. "Good." Now it would be easier to issue orders amongst the chaos they were facing.

"Keep targeting those ships!" Jack ordered.

Eyes narrowed, Jack realised that half the fighters out there probably didn't know who they were dealing with – the attack had been so sudden, there hadn't been time to warn anyone about anything. Swearing again, Jack sent out the warning. "Be careful out there! Those are not just Cylons. Anubis is…damn it!"

Jack was cut off as a direct hit slammed into the _Prometheus_, sending colourful sparks flying over their shield. He sent a glare towards the pilot, Moretti, even though he knew the man was doing his best. Jack just couldn't help it. This was a serious situation and he couldn't afford to have a damaged ship. Anubis had to be stopped, Earth saved and his people kept safe!

As if choosing his timing for a dramatic entrance and the annoyance value, Anubis appeared in the middle of the _Prometheus'_ bridge – or at least, his hologram did. "O'Neill." He greeted scornfully. "We meet again."

Wearing his usual dark, hooded outfit, Anubis looked directly at Jack. Jack couldn't see his face, not that he had one, but he could almost picture the arrogant and cruel smile he would have if he had a mouth.

"I'm working on a way to fix that problem." Jack snapped back.

Anubis chuckled, but the sound was unnatural and completely without humour or softness. "Do you really think you can beat me this time?" he asked, almost conversationally.

"We've done it before." Jack said firmly.

Anubis chuckled again, sending a shiver up and down Jack's spine at the unnatural sound. Jack just couldn't help it – the sound was so inhuman that it just weirded him out (he didn't want to admit he was scared).

"And yet, I'm still here." Anubis replied.

Jack raised an eyebrow, anger in his dark eyes. "So, you got bored and stopped by for a chat?"

"No." Anubis answered. "I just wanted to see your face, when you realised there was no way to save your entire race from obliteration."

"You've tried that before, and yet, we're still here." Jack said, mocking Anubis' earlier words.

Anubis snarled in anger. "Not for long!"

Jack eyes snapped anger. "You won't win." He growled. "Because this time I'm going to make sure there's not even a particle of you left!"

To Be Continued…


	16. Battling the Basestars

Author's Note: Hope you enjoy the chap! Thanks for all the reviews and sorry for the wait, but still busy with those exams ;)

Cheeky.

* * *

The Thirteenth Colony:

Chapter Fourteen:

By cheeky-chaos

General John Sheppard swore loudly as he motioned for Grodin to cut the connection between him and the _Prometheus_, even as he felt the blast reverberate through Atlantis. The city was strong, as was the shield that protected it, so the vibration was small. John still didn't like it, though. He had come to love the beautiful city over the years he had called it home, and didn't like it when people started to mess with it.

"Get people to the chairs!" he ordered, meaning the chairs that operated Atlantis' weapons systems, much like the one on the outpost back on Earth. "Tell all non-military personnel to take shelter and launch the puddle-jumpers!"

"So much for an easy morning." Elizabeth muttered from nearby, making John smile briefly.

"What is going on?" Dr. Rodney Mckay snapped as he entered the control room. "Are we being shot at?"

Rodney had aged since they had first met, with lines appearing around his eyes and mouth, and his forehead was developing permanent groves from all the frowning he did. But despite that, his eyes were still their clear and intelligent blue and his demanding manner hadn't really changed.

John looked at the scientist who had become his friend over the years, and noticed the fear under the usual arrogance. Not even the years that had past has dulled that. But John knew the strength and courage Rodney possessed, even if he didn't show it all the time.

"You could say that." He said mildly, debating whether he should put his genetics to better use and go and man one of the chairs – he wanted to, but he was the General of this base. He couldn't just leave everyone like that.

"So who is it?" Rodney asked.

"Anubis." John replied shortly as another, stronger, blast rocked Atlantis. "How's the shield holding?"

Frowning, Rodney sat down at a panel of controls and started pushing buttons, completely ignoring the other technician who had been trying to answer John's question. "The shield is fine." He said. "But too many hits are going to start draining power."

"The puddle-jumpers are launched, sir." Grodin reported.

"And the weapons system?" John asked.

"A few minutes until it comes on line."

"Alright." John said. "Let's open a general comm. Channel between us, the _Prometheus_ and the _Galactica_."

"Yes, sir." Grodin replied before putting through the command. "Attention all U.N.E and Colonial fighters. An open comm. between Atlantis, the Prometheus and the Galactica has been established. Address all enquiries to Command."

The chaos of the comm. Traffic grew louder and more frantic as a large wave of Raiders was launched. John grimaced when he saw some of them break away and head straight for Atlantis.

"Tell the puddle-jumpers to stop those fighters." John ordered.

"Yes, sir."

"_Be careful out there!"_ Jack's voice echoed loudly out over the comm. traffic._ "Those are not just Cylons. Anubis is…damn it!"_

"What happened?" John asked.

"The _Prometheus_ was hit." Rodney replied. "But she's okay."

John noticed the relief in Rodney's voice and couldn't help but feel a little relieved himself. This attack was serious and he didn't want to loose another friend to the Goa'uld anytime soon. Not that he should worry. General Jack O'Neill was practically indestructible, as were the rest of the old SG-1.

"Weapons towers just came on line!" Grodin reported.

It was then that one of the Basestars picked up speed and began to move straight towards Atlantis. The fire from the fighters was just bouncing off the shield without doing any damage at all and the puddle-jumpers were too busy trying to keep the Raiders from getting to the city. Even the _Prometheus_ had moved away, pursuing one of the other Basestars.

"Tell them to focus on that Basestar!" John ordered.

A series of large explosions hit Atlantis' shield as the Basestar fired a number of missiles at them. John wasn't sure what type of missiles they were, but if he had to hazard a get, he would say that they were naquada enhanced nukes.

"We're loosing power to the shields!" Rodney yelled.

John swore again. "Can we boost the power somehow?" he asked.

Rodney nodded, opening his mouth to give a long-winded answered, before thinking better of it. "Yes, I can." He said instead.

"Good, then get moving!"

"_Atlantis, we could use some help about now!"_ Jack's voice snapped out that moment, over the comm.

"We're doing the best we can, Jack!"John snapped right back, having enough troubles to deal with at that moment.

As Rodney headed out of the control room, Grodin gave John some more back news. "Those shields are strong! It's taking more than we thought to get through!"

"Shields are beginning to fail!" a technician cried.

John began to get a really bad feeling, before the lights flickered and Atlantis gave a large shudder. "Shields just failed, General." Grodin reported. "And a group of Cylons just landed on Atlantis!"

* * *

Lex watched the Raiders approach as her squadron formed up behind her. Just a little way off to the right, Lee and the _Galactica_ pilots were doing the same thing. "I'll take the group on the left. Apollo, you take the one on the right." She said to Lee.

"Ready when you are, Viper." Lee replied.

"And keep an eye out for those puddle-jumpers!" Lex added. "I don't want to have to mess up your faces if you hit one!"

"We'll be careful." This time it was Kara who answered, her tone dry. "We've flown before."

As soon as the squadrons had readied themselves, they punched their engines and moved off, Lee's squadron gracefully peeling to the right as Lex's did the same on the left. But the quiet beauty of ships in flight was soon broken as the fighters engaged. Just like long ago armies, the two waves of fighters crashed into each other…and then the pilots were swooping and dipping and flying away, breaking up the group of attacking Raiders.

From then on the battle became chaotic, with _Interceptors_, _Vipers_ and Raiders going every which way. Debris and explosions buffeted the fighters, along with blasts from the larger ships. But even through the chaos, Lex noticed the _Galactica_ begin to enter the frey and the _Prometheus_ move out to pursue the largest of the Basestars.

The puddle-jumpers didn't take long to enter the fight, they're Ancient weapons making short work of the Raiders heading straight for Atlantis. Even the large city wasn't free from receiving damage, as her large shield rippled under the onslaught of one of the Basestars.

Breaking into her thoughts, Lex snapped back to find a Raider coming up fast on her tail. It was soon joined by a second. "Dammit, Ice, where are you!" she snapped at her wingman.

"I'm a little busy, Viper!" he called back, also trying to loose a group of pursuing Raiders.

Acting quickly, Lex threw her nose down and accelerated, sharply changing her course. The Raiders caught on fast and followed. Speeding through the fight and dodging blasts and other ships, Lex made her way through the obstacle course, the Raider right behind her. It was then that Atlantis' weapons towers came on line, lighting up the fight with their bright glow.

Smiling, although a little grim as she dodged around a spinning Raider, Lex saw the impact of Atlantis' guns on the Basestar firing at her. Not even the extra-tough shield could withstand them for long, and her smile grew as a few shots punched straight through and small explosions were seen on the surface of the Basestar.

As nice as that was to see, Lex was too focused on ridding the Raiders from her tail to do more than notice absently. Swinging sharply to the left, Lex darted around a Viper in pursuit of another Raider and jerked her nose upwards, a second later. Hoping to catch the Raiders off-guard, she flipped as she slammed on the breaks. The Raiders sped by underneath her, just as she came down almost behind them. Lex opened fire in a second, catching one of the Raiders as they both spun around to come back at her. The ship exploded in a short burst of flame.

Unfortunately, Lex's shots had only glanced off the second Raider, so she peeled sharply to the left, dodging around a pile of floating debris. Immediately diving, in a slight corkscrew-like pattern, Lex punched her accelerator again and sped away. Suddenly, another _Interceptor_ darted in from her upper left, and soon the second Raider on her tail was nothing more than a pile of floating junk.

"Thanks, Tex." She said.

But Tex didn't answer. Instead he cursed loudly. "What the hell… Hey, Viper!" he called.

Lex glanced up and saw what he was looking at. A large ship was shaped just like a Raider, but larger and had something that almost looked like a fat round body. There were no windows apart from the eerily glowing red "eyes", but Lex none the less got the idea that it was some sort of transport ship.

A few more ships going the first, until there was a group of about five moving off towards Atlantis. But as Lex and Tex watched, two ships broke off and headed slightly off to the side of the city… Lex frowned. "Where are they going?" she asked.

"_Atlantis' shields have just failed!"_ Grodin's voice snapped out. _"Request assistance!"_

Lex blinked in surprise as she saw the glowing shield wink and disappear. A second later, she punched the engines and headed straight for Atlantis. _"Cylons have landed on Atlantis!"_ Grodin added.

As Lex flew towards the planet on which Atlantis lay, she kept her eyes on the two ships that were headed away from Atlantis… and straight towards the largest continent. "Command – this is Viper. There are Cylons headed for the Allosian Continent!" she snapped out. "I'm following!"

Tex, who was right on her wing, added. "Me too!"

* * *

Swearing as Anubis' hologram disappeared, Jack fixed his attention back on the battle. Now that he had pissed Anubis off, maybe he would make a mistake. Jack doubted it, but the whole exchange had made him feel a little better. It was time Anubis became a past threat – in fact, it was way past time!

"The larger ship is breaking away, sir." Woodward reported.

Indeed, the largest of the three Basestars was breaking away from the other two and moving off towards the planet. Another wave of Radiers flew out from its hanger bays, and Jack swallowed a feeling of dread. This battle was about to get very nasty, very soon.

"Follow it!" Jack ordered. "And if any Raiders get in the way, fry them!"

Moretti quickly moved the _Prometheus_ into a position to follow the Basestar and Jack had a quick moment of pride at how gracefully she handled. But there was no time for more than a passing thought, as the Basestar opened fire on them.

The _Prometheus_ shuddered from the series of impacts, the shield sparking with colour where the blasts hit. "Atlantis, we could use some help about now!" Jack snapped.

"_We're doing the best we can, Jack!" _John's voice snapped in reply.

Seconds later, another announcement echoed over the _Prometheus'_ bridge from Atlantis. _"Atlantis' shields have just failed!"_ Grodin's voice snapped out. _"Request assistance!"_

"_Cylons have landed on Atlantis!"_ Grodin added a breath later.

The _Prometheus_ continued to shudder as it was bombarded with more blasts from Anubis' Basestar. "This is really beginning to annoy me!" Jack muttered, before continuing in a louder voice. "Is there any way to break through that damned shield?"

"It's deflecting everything we're throwing at it, sir." Woodward said.

Jack swore – he seemed to be doing quite a lot of that as the battle wore on. Not a good sign. Then an idea struck him. "Focus everything on one section of the shield!" He ordered.

"Try the section just above the port hanger bay." Sam added. "There's a small break there, where two of the fields don't quite meet well enough."

"Yes, sir." Woodward replied. "Ma'am."

Acting together, Woodward and Petrovsky focused the weapons of the _Prometheus_ on a weaker part of the Basestar's shield and fired. The intense burst from the _Prometheus'_ plasma weapons created a large flash of light, at the same moment the Basestar fired an intense surge of fire right back at them. Jack squinted his eyes against the light, before it disappeared a second later.

"We got through!" Petrovsky cried, sounding happy.

A second later, Woodward added his own assessment, sounding a whole lot less happy. "Minimal damage!" he reported. "That ship is made from naquadah!"

"Like the stargates?" Jack snapped, impressed despite himself.

"Yes, sir." Woodward replied, just as the _Prometheus_ gave another harsh shudder.

It was then that another call echoed through the bridge from the comm. _"Command – this is Viper. There are Cylons headed for the Athosian Continent!"_ Lex's voice called out_. "I'm following!"_

"_Me too!"_ Tex's voice added.

"Viper, this is Command." Sam calmly replied, as if the _Prometheus_ wasn't having problems of her own. "Raiders are headed for the Athosians?"

"_Not Raiders."_ Lex answered. _"Some sort of transport ships. There are two of them!"_

"Loosing power to the engines!" Woodward cried.

Almost immediately, there was a noticeable change in speed and the Basestar pulled further away from the _Prometheus_. Jack narrowed his eyes as the fleeing ship, before turning to his wife. "Fix it!" he snapped, knowing her genius would be a match for any problem they had.

"I'm on it." Sam replied, heading out of the bridge and responding to the command in the way only someone in the military (or formerly of the military) could.

"And someone get Daniel and Teal'c up here!" Jack ordered.

* * *

"Get _Galactica_ into the fight, now!" Commander Adama barked from the middle of the CIC.

"Yes, sir." Gaeta answered.

Beneath his feet, Bill felt the slight change in the engines and his ship, as the _Galactica_ prepared for battle. It wasn't something everyone would notice, but when you'd been the commander of a ship as long as Bill had, you noticed her moods – and this old warhorse had a few battles left in her, just like her commander.

"What's the situation with our fighters?" Bill asked Tigh in a quieter voice.

"They're engaging the Raiders." Tigh replied. "So far they've only taken minor damage, but the odds are against us on this one."

"The odds have been against us since the Cylons blew up the Colonies." Bill pointed out dryly. "Is there anything we can do?"

"Keep that third Basestar away from Atlantis and pray." Tigh answered.

"Then that's what we'll do." Bill told his old friend, before raising his voice to issue orders. "Engage the third Basestar! Let's give the Cylons something else to think about!"

"Yes, sir." Gaeta replied.

The _Galactica_ shuddered as the Basestar they were pursuing started returning fire, but the shields Atlantis' technicians had installed seemed to be holding, despite the way the ship seemed to buck and shudder.

"The _Prometheus_ is taking some heavy fire and Atlantis just lost her shields!" Dee reported faithfully, a touch of disbelief still in her voice when she mentioned the shields - she still wasn't quite used to the idea.

"So much for our allies." Tigh muttered.

Bill silenced him with a sharp look, and turned his face back to the screens he was studying. "There has to be something we can do!" he muttered.

Then an idea struck him. Bill glanced up at Dee. "Get me General O'Neill on the line." He ordered, just as a massive shudder wrenched through the _Galactica_.

* * *

"_Viper, this is Command." _Sam's voice echoed back to Lex. _"Raiders are headed for the Athosians?"_

"Not Raiders." Lex replied. "Some sort of transport ships. There are two of them!"

"Damn it!" Tex swore as he spun away, a Raider on his tail.

Lex continued on, hoping that her squadron mates would be there to help her soon – because, as talented in a cockpit as she was, there was no way she could take on two transport ships on her own!

As soon as she hit the atmosphere of the planet, Lex experienced the momentary freefall that always happened, as she switched her engines from the thrusters she used out in space, to the standard jet engine that was also built into the _Interceptors_. The engines kicked in with a jolt, and Lex immediately accelerated and manoeuvred towards the transport ship that had also just hit orbit.

"Command, this is Viper." She called over the comm. "Those transport ships have just hit the atmosphere above the Athosians!"

"_Ah, Viper, this is Command."_ Daniel's voice echoed back to her. _"We're sending some help to the Continent. Try and hold off the ships as best you can."_

Lex ignored the urge to yell, "Where is mom?" and focused on the orders. This was not the time or the place for this sort of thing. She could find out later, no matter how much that twisted her gut. "Copy that, Command." She replied.

A second later, the transport ships spotted her and began firing. Lex dodged the gunfire as best as she could, not realising how heavily armed these transports had been. "Damn it!" she snapped. "Merlin! Ice! Tex! Someone! I could use some help down here!"

"We're coming, Viper!" Merlin replied. "We'll hit the atmosphere in a few minutes!"

Growling out something not very complimentary, Lex dodged another barrage of fire, before firing off a burst of her own. She grinned quickly as her blasts hit their target and the transport ship bucked. But, sadly, it wasn't enough. The other ship had managed to move around to her side and the resulting barrage of fire punched through her shields.

"Damn it!" Lex swore. "Command, I'm hit!"

"_How bad is it?"_ Daniel asked.

The controls shuddered underneath her hands and Lex knew that one of the shots had hit her engines. Almost as soon as she recognised it, she felt the jet engine begin to stutter and fail. "I'm going down!" she barked. "They hit my engines!"

Doing the best she could to set the _Interceptor_ down, Lex focused everything on landing her ship. Spotting a clearing in the forested landscape beneath her, she set up the landing as best as she could and sent out a quick prayer as her engines failed completely. Bracing for impact, Lex squeezed her eyes shut as the _Interceptor _slammed into the ground and she was slammed against her crash harness with jarring force. A second later, she lost consciousness.

To Be Continued…


	17. Is this the end?

Author's Note: Well, it seems I just had to write the next chapter, even though I should be studying…oh, well! Sorry, it's a little shorter than usual as well. Hope you enjoy it anyway :)

I also changed the chapter a little, after an error was pointed out to me. _Vipers_ can, in fact, fly in atmosphere. Sorry! (Thankyou, RogueCanuck)

Cheeky.

* * *

The Thirteenth Colony:

Chapter Fifteen:

By cheeky-chaos

John snatched an earpiece and mic off the desk in front of him and bolted for the door, yelling orders over his shoulder as he went. "Tell Major Blake to organise his Marines! And tell Ford I'm coming down to meet him!"

Sprinting the whole way, John headed straight for the weapons locker where he knew Colonel Aiden Ford would be waiting, along with the rest of the military personnel still aboard Atlantis – which included Major Blake and his Marines.

"General." Ford nodded when John jogged around a corner and met the rest of Atlantis' security forces, before passing him a standard vest and his weapons as John skidded to a halt.

Colonel Aiden Ford was a tall, mocha skinned man in his early fifties, although he didn't look it. He stood as straight as he ever had, with a small amused half-smile on his lips at his CO's usual dramatic and hurried appearance. He had served under John Sheppard for a long time, since he'd been a Lieutenant and John a Major.

As John slipped on the vest and grabbed the modified P-90 to go with the zat and pistol he already wore, he spoke. "Thanks." He said to Ford, before speaking into his radio. "Where are those Cylons?"

"They landed on the east arm." Elizabeth replied. "They're still milling about on the surface. Be careful."

"I will." John replied. "How's Rodney doing?"

"He's just reached the central generator now." Elizabeth said. "He says it's been damaged in the attack."

John nodded, even though Elizabeth couldn't see it. He could feel the shudders that when through the city as each blast hit, doing damage now that Atlantis' protective shield was no longer there. Hopefully Rodney would have it fixed very soon, but until then, John would have to trust that the weapons system would stop anyone from getting too close.

"Okay. Let me know when he fixes it." He said, trying not to feel worried, and turned back to the group around him. "All right, let's go!"

The group headed out, moving quickly towards where the Cylons had been spotted. Luckily, it was away from where most of civilians and scientists were staying, but John didn't really want anyone invading his city that he hadn't invited – not that he usually invited people to invade, come to think of it. It just sort of happened a lot.

When they got closer to the east arm of Atlantis, the group slowed and fanned out cautiously. Having only heard Jack's report on his encounters with the Cylons, John wasn't really sure what to expect, so he prepared for the worst. As the group got closer to the doors leading to outside the tower and onto the arm's surface (which was mostly made up of walkways and mechanics), John heard the sound of gunfire.

He immediately motioned for everyone to take cover and ducked behind a nearby pillar himself. Ford crept up beside him. "What do you think they're shooting at, sir?" he asked, knowing just as John did, that there were no people there.

"The doors probably." John answered. "I think they're trying to get in."

Ford nodded, but there was a flash of amusement in his eyes at John's light comment. "Shall we go have a look?" he asked.

"Why not?" John replied, and motioned for Major Blake to keep everyone else where they were.

The two men got up and crept down the corridor, keeping to the edges in case they suddenly needed cover. The closer they got to the doors the Cylons were trying to bust through, the more controlled each man got. Each footstep became softer and they sank right back against the walls. Using a few sharp hand gestures, John told Ford to stop.

At that moment, the Cylons managed to burst through the door they had been blasting. The two Cylons that entered were tall enough that they almost banged their "heads" on the ceiling. Their eyes glowed with the characteristic eerie red light and instead of hands, they had what looked like small cannons on each arm.

John blinked. _So, these are the Toasters_. He reflected absently, before turning to Ford and motioning for a fast retreat.

Unfortunately, they were not going to be that lucky. As soon as the pair moved to retreat back to Major Blake and the rest of the security force, the Cylons spotted them. Immediately, Ford and John returned fire, just as two more Cylons entered through the now destroyed door.

"The Cylons are inside Atlantis!" John snapped, as he fired his zat gun at the closest Cylon, having remembered Jack's advice. "There are at least six of them… make that eight!"

"General, we're on our way!" Major Blake called out over the radio, just as Ford and John felled the first two Cylons.

* * *

About five minutes after Sam had jogged out of the bridge to go and fix the now dead engines, Daniel and Teal'c walked on. Daniel's expression was concerned, while Teal'c's was as impassive as ever – except to Jack, who had known his big friend for many years now and could see the concern in his eyes.

"Keep firing!" he ordered Woodward, before turning to his two friends.

"Alright." He said. "We've got some transport ships headed for the Allosians and I don't think either Atlantis or the _Galactica_ can spare anyone at the moment, so I'm sending you Teal'c. Our transporters should just be able to reach."

Teal'c nodded. "I shall inform my team at once, O'Neill." He stated, before turning to leave.

"Ah, Jack?" Daniel asked, wondering if those orders had been for him as well.

"Danny, I need you to handle the comm. for the moment, while Sam fixes the engines." Jack replied.

"Oh, okay." Daniel said, feeling a little relieved at that.

He wasn't a soldier like his friends, no matter how many battles he'd been in over the years. Slipping into the chair beside Jack, Daniel stared momentarily at the mass of controls before him, before picking up the headset and putting it on. Thankfully, he'd been paying attention when Sam had told him about the controls, and knew what to do.

"_Command, this is Viper."_ Lex's voice came over the comm. "_Those transport ships have just hit the atmosphere above the Athosians!"_

Daniel glanced towards Jack to see if he'd heard. He had. "Tell her to hold off those ships! We've sent help!" Jack said as another shudder wracked the _Prometheus_. "Damn it, keep firing!"

"Ah, Viper, this is Command." Daniel relayed to Lex. "We're sending some help to the Continent. Try and hold off the ships as best you can."

"_Copy that, Command."_ He heard Lex reply, a faint trace of apprehension in her voice – although, whether that was from the fire she was taking or from the fact her mother wasn't on the other end of the line anymore, Daniel wasn't sure.

Jack continued to snap out orders as the _Prometheus_ remained without noticeable engine power. Daniel just watched his friend with slight awe. No matter how many times he saw it, Daniel still felt a great respect and admiration at the way Jack slipped the burdens of command and saving the world onto his shoulders without complaint.

Picking up another call, Daniel focused on it as he gradually worked out how to block out the less important chatter. _"Damn it!"_ Lex swore loudly over the comm. _"Command, I'm hit!"_

"How bad is it?" Daniel asked, immediately concerned.

"_I'm going down!"_ Lex called in response. _"They hit my engines!"_

"Viper?" Daniel asked, but there was only a sharp burst of static in reply. Sharing a concerned look with Jack, Daniel replied again. "Viper?"

No answer. Trying not to fear the worst, Daniel glanced up as another shout echoed over the bridge, this one coming from Woodward. "We're a sitting duck out here! The shields can't take much more of this!"

Jack straightened his shoulders and narrowed his eyes at the fleeing Basestar. "It ain't over yet!" he muttered.

* * *

Lee felt the adrenaline surging through his blood as his fingers flew over the _Viper_ controls. Beneath his hands, the fighter spun and twisted, avoiding enemy fire and returning some of her own. Taking out another Raider, Lee couldn't help but smile at the rush. There was no way those Toasters were going to win without one hell of a fight!

"Is it me, Apollo, or are you actually getting better?" Kara's voice sarcastically asked.

"Very funny, Starbuck." He replied.

Both Lee and Kara knew that he was the second best pilot aboard the _Galactica_, and sadly, the second best pilot in what was left of the Colonies. But that never stopped Kara's teasing, or Lee's secret determination to one day beat her at _something_!

"I thought so." Kara answered back.

It was then, amongst the rest of the comm. chatter and frantic speed of the battle, that the pair picked up on a familiar voice. _"Thanks, Tex."_ Lex was saying.

Then Tex cursed loudly. _"What the hell… Hey, Viper!"_ he called.

"_Where are they going?"_ Lex asked.

Already searching for his friend, Lee had a sinking feeling that something terrible was going to happen – and he wanted to know what had made Tex curse like that, because that couldn't be good either.

"_Atlantis' shields have just failed!"_ Grodin's voice snapped out from Atlantis, making Lee glance sharply towards the planet. _"Request assistance!"_

As he watched, the glowing shield that had covered the large city below, winked and disappeared. Not good. _"Cylons have landed on Atlantis!"_ Grodin added a beat later.

Lee punched the controls and flew straight towards the planet on which Atlantis lay, just as Lex spoke again. _"Command – this is Viper. There are Cylons headed for the Athosian Continent!"_ she snapped out. _"I'm following!"_

"_Me too!"_ Tex's voice added.

"Frakking Cylons!" Lee heard Kara mutter, and glanced out the corner of his eye, to see her flying right beside him.

Feeling a small gleam of happiness that Kara was flying beside him, Lee punched his engines as the pair raced towards Atlantis, before they finally spotted Lex's _Interceptor_ pursuing two large Cylon ships. As they watched, Tex peeled off, his ship being chased by a Raider.

The large ships were shaped just like Raiders, but were larger and had something that almost looked like a fat round belly. There were no windows apart from the eerily glowing red "eyes", but none the less, there was a sense that these were some sort of transport ships. The two ships broke off and headed slightly off to the side of the city and towards the continent below.

"_Command, this is Viper."_ Lex's voice snapped out over the comm. _"Those transport ships have just hit the atmosphere above the Athosians!"_

"_Ah, Viper, this is Command."_ A new male voice answered her. _"We're sending some help to the Continent. Try and hold off the ships as best you can."_

"_Copy that, Command."_ She replied.

By now, both Lee and Kara were ready to follow Lex down into the atmosphere of the planet, but had to pull up at the last minute, as two Raiders dove in from nowhere and began firing. "Frak me!" Kara muttered, before speaking louder. "Don't they know when to give up?"

Lee knew what she meant – it seemed every time they turned around, there was another Raider ready to blow them out of the sky. "I don't know." He replied. "Why don't you ask one of them?"

Dealing quickly with their attackers, Lee and Kara turned to find another squadron inbound for Atlantis. Lee felt torn between helping his friend and protecting a very vulnerable Atlantis that housed, not only a large group of humans from Earth, but all the surviving civilians from the Colonies.

"_Damn it!"_ Lex's voice sounded annoyed as it echoed back to them. _"Merlin! Ice! Tex! Someone! I could use some help down here!"_

"_We're coming, Viper!"_ Merlin replied. "_We'll hit the atmosphere in a few seconds!"_

Lee spotted the three _Interceptors_ racing towards the planet, still keeping tight formation. That was one thing that Lee really admired about these pilots from Earth – they were definitely the best at what they did. Knowing they would give Lex the help she needed, Lee turned to help Atlantis. He was closer than the _Interceptors_ were anyway.

Kara followed as soon as she saw what he was doing, breaking off from where she had been heading to the planet. And, at that moment, the squadron of Raiders spotted both of them and started firing. Dodging and twisting, Lee gave in to his instincts and training, as he only ever did in the cockpit. And, taking his father's advice, he let do of that damned rulebook, too.

The following fire fight was beautiful, in a destructive and chaotic way. Between them, Kara and Lee reduced the Raiders flying towards them, into floating piles of space junk in a matter of minutes. The explosions rocked their _Vipers_ as they zoomed around, but it did nothing more than briefly distract them.

Lee glanced towards the continent when the fight was over, wondering how Lex was doing. Almost as if thinking about her, had conjured her voice, Lex spoke over the comm. _"Damn it!"_ she swore. _"Command, I'm hit!"_

"_How bad is it?"_ the male voice asked.

"_I'm going down!"_ Lex barked. _"They hit my engines!"_

Lee gasped softly at that. Lex was one hell of a pilot, and something like that wouldn't happen very easily. He wanted to race down and help his friend, but he simply couldn't. A second later, his head jerked around as another barrage of fire was shot at them from a group of two Raiders flying straight at him and Kara.

Lee accelerated and moved away from Kara, hoping to split up the two Raiders. It worked. The Raiders were nothing if predictable. Spinning to the left, Lee flipped his _Viper_, so that it flew up and over the Raider in a smooth move. Grinning slightly at having pulled it off, Lee fired on the Raider and it exploded. Turning around, Lee was just in time to catch Kara flying straight at the other Raider, as if trying to play chicken, before their was a massive explosion that engulfed both ships in a fiery ball.

"Starbuck!" Lee cried. "Starbuck!"

* * *

Lex groaned as she opened her eyes. Her whole body hurt. It seemed inertial dampners could only protect you from so much. She found herself leaning forward in her harness, the nose of her _Interceptor_ buried in the soft ground below her. Amazed that she wasn't more seriously hurt, Lex checked herself over for injuries.

Thankfully there seemed to be nothing worse than some bruised ribs and a headache. Reaching up, Lex carefully undid her crash harness and slid out, stumbling a little forward. Steadying herself against the console, Lex took off her helmet and shook her head, hoping to clear the last of the fuzziness away.

Finally, Lex reached behind her seat and grabbed the survival pack from where it was stored, before climbing out of her abused fighter. "Poor baby." She muttered, when she saw the damage on the outside. There was no way Lex was going to be able to get her _Interceptor_ off the ground any time soon – which meant, she was going to have to fight out the rest of this on the ground.

Sighing in disappointment, and a little pain, Lex grabbed her backup radio and hoped this one was working. It was. She slipped the headset over her ear and contacted Command. "Command, this is Viper." She said. "I'm okay, but my _Interceptor_ can't fly."

"_It's good to here your voice, Viper."_ Daniel replied, just as Lex heard Merlin mutter something in relief in the background as well. _"What's the situation on the Continent?"_

Slipping her supply bag over her shoulders, Lex moved to glance around the large clearing she found herself in. "I can't see anything yet…"

She trailed off, just as she spotted two large Cylon centurions entering the clearing. Both had the pulsing eerie red light for eyes, and the cannons instead of hands. "Command, Cylons have reached the Continent!" she amended, as she reached for her zat. "I repeat: Cylons have reached the Continent!"

* * *

Anubis stood looking out the only window in his Basestar at the battle before him. The _Prometheus_, pride of the humans, was sitting almost motionless as his guns bombarded it with blast after blast. Atlantis' shield was down, thanks to several well placed shots and that puny ship, the _Galactica_ was faring no better. It was only a matter of time before they were all destroyed.

Beside him, a copy of the beautiful, blonde Number Six stood. She was watching the battle with an expression of glee on her face. It never ceased to amaze Anubis at just how deep the hatred of humans ran in his children. But he supposed he should, since he was the one who put it there.

"They don't a chance against us." She said, viciously happy.

"They never did." Anubis replied.

He watched the explosions and destruction below him, counting down the seconds that was all the humans had left. Then, unable to contain it any longer, he let out a cruel and inhuman laugh that sounded eerie and devoid of anything but hatred to all those who heard it.

Humanity was finally going to be wiped out of existence.

To Be Continued…


	18. Game Over

Author's Note: I'm so sorry for the long wait for this chapter, but I've have been feeling absolutely awful with a bad case of the flu. I haven't been able to do anything but sleep for a very long time! I hope you enjoy it, despite the wait.

I also changed the previous chapter, as it was pointed out to me that _Vipers_ can, in fact, fly in atmosphere. Sorry! (Thankyou, RogueCanuck) I've also spelt Athosians wrong, so I've gone back to change it.

Cheeky.

* * *

The Thirteenth Colony:

Chapter Sixteen:

By cheeky-chaos

Bill stood looking grimly at the screens in front of him, watching both the Basestars and his allies as the battle waged on. "I've got the _Prometheus_ on the line, sir." Dee turned around and told him.

Bill nodded and picked up a nearby handset. "General, this is Commander Adama." He greeted.

"_Hey, Commander."_ Jack's voice replied. _"Now is not exactly the best time."_

"What if I had a plan that could help with your current situation?"

"_You've got my attention."_ Jack replied. _"Because we're sitting ducks out here!"_

Bill sent a worried glance to one of the screens where he could see for himself that the _Prometheus_ was just sitting dead in space. "We're going to try a jump." He told Jack, getting right to the point. "If it works, we'll end up on the other side of that Basestar, which should draw its attention away from you long enough to do something."

There was a slight pause, as the _Prometheus_ was bombarded with several large explosions. _"Not that I really wouldn't appreciate the help right now, but do you think you can manage it?"_

Bill looked at Gaeta, who was nervously making the required calculations. Gaeta nodded. "Yes, we can do it." Bill replied, having faith in the man who had managed to calculate a jump every 33 minutes while they were trying to escape the Cylons.

"_Well then,"_ Jack said. _"Would it be too much to ask you to hurry?"

* * *

_

John stared as the Cylons in front of him seemed to multiply. What had first been two large Centurions entering Atlantis had turned into at least eight. No others were trying to force their way inside, but John couldn't be sure how many there were left outside. Or how many others could soon be joining them.

"Dammit!" he swore. "Rodney, how are those shields coming?"

"_You can't rush genius, John!"_ Rodney's annoyed voice snapped in reply.

"Well," John said, as he continued to fire at the Cylons, pressed up against the corridor wall to avoid the worse of the retaliatory fire. "If you don't hurry, you might be taking your orders from Toasters very soon!"

It was at that moment that Major Blake made his most welcome entrance. He and his Marines, along with the other military personnel, took cover behind John and Ford and began firing on the approaching Centurions.

Due to the combined firepower of the Marines and the other military personnel, the Centurions began to fall. At the end of the next ten minutes, only one was still standing, and not even it lasted long. "I'm going to go take a look outside." John said as soon as it was over.

"Yes, sir." Major Blake replied, his men already moving to check the Centurions were really dead.

John crept towards the large hole the Cylons had come in through, Ford coming up beside him. He peered out, but he couldn't see anything else out there. "Elizabeth, are there any more signs of Cylons on Atlantis?"

"_No."_ Elizabeth replied.

"Good. Command, this is Atlantis. We've taken care of the Cylons on Atlantis."

Daniel's reply was cut off by a suddenly enthusiastic sounding Rodney. _"Yes! Shields are back online!"_

John grinned in relief. "Great, Rodney!" he said. "Meet me back up in the control room."

Quickly, John made his way up to the control room, only to meet a worried looking Elizabeth, just before Rodney arrived. "What's wrong?" John asked her.

"It's the _Prometheus_." She replied. "She's lost power to her engines."

John swore under his breath. This wasn't a good development. "Let's give them a hand then. How are the towers doing?"

Just as John asked the question, Grodin turned around. "General, one of the towers was hit just before the shields came back online. The chair seems to be okay, but McLaren was injured. I've already told Dr. Beckett."

"I'm on my way." John said, turning and racing past a bewildered looking Rodney in the doorway.

"Where's he going?" he heard Rodney ask as he rushed away.

* * *

The swirling blue-tinged energy of Atlantis' shields sprang up around the large city in a snap of colour. Almost immediately, the energy bolts from the Basestars and the Raiders attacks became useless again, as the shields just swallowed them up.

At the same moment, Atlantis brought all her towers to bear on the Basestar that was hovering just above her. Within moments it exploded into white hot rubble, as the full strength of Atlantis was brought against it.

"No!" Anubis let out the tortured scream as his plans all began to fall apart.

* * *

"Starbuck!" Lee cried. "Starbuck!"

"No need to panic, Apollo." Kara's voice replied to Lee's frantic calls, somewhat dryly. "I'm right here."

Lee snapped his head to the side, just as Kara brought her _Viper_ down to fly beside his. "Come on!" she said. "I'm a better pilot than that!"

"You never did get the hang of modesty, did you?" Lee asked dryly, as he quieted his pounding heart – Kara had given him quite a scare.

It was then that Lex's voice filtered through the comm. chatter and both Lee and Kara listened intently, relieved to hear the other pilot was okay. _"Command, this is Viper."_ Lex's voice echoed. _"I'm okay, but my _Interceptor_ can't fly."_

"_It's good to here your voice, Viper."_ A male voice replied, but neither Kara nor Lee could quite place who it was. _"What's the situation on the Continent?"_

At the same moment Command had replied to Lex, Merlin had muttered a quick curse in relief at his friend and squadron mate being alright, making Kara smile slightly.

"_I can't see anything yet…"_ Lex answered, before trailing off. When she spoke again, there was a note of fear and urgency in her voice. _"Command, Cylons have reached the Continent! I repeat: Cylons have reached the Continent!"_

"Hold tight, _Viper_!" Lee barked out, his fingers flying over the controls of his fighter. "How many are you dealing with?"

"_There's two…"_ Lex answered. _"Make that one left that I can see, but I'm stuck in some sort of clearing. I can't see what's going on anywhere else!"_

"Merlin, what can you see?" Kara called out, as the pair rushed towards the planet's surface.

"_There are Cylons everywhere."_ Merlin replied. _"I can't see Viper yet, though."_

Lee and Kara shot through the planets atmosphere just above the Athosian Continent, the sudden change from space making the ships buck slightly. The land below them was green and forested, spotted with clearings every now and then and the Athosian settlement was visible in the distance. Merlin, Tex and Ice soon met up with them as they began to search for Lex.

"There!" Lee said. "She's over there!"

The pilots turned to see a streak of military green running out of a section of forest and heading towards a large plane in front of the settlement, where other Centurions seemed to be fighting the Athosian. Hot on her heels was another of the Cylons, and every now and then, Lex would turn slightly and fire at it.

"_Form up!"_ Merlin ordered Tex and Ice. _"Let's lend Viper a hand down there."_

The three _Interceptors _quickly moved into formation, forming a little triangle as they flew towards their target. "We're not going to let them have all the fun, are we?" Kara asked Lee.

Lee grinned. "Frak, no!" he replied.

* * *

Lex sprinted out of the trees, hoping the open ground would give her a clearer shot at the Cylon pursuing her. The first Cylon she had met, back at the crash site, had been easy enough to deal with. After that, she had just managed to grab her stuff before a second had come barrelling out of the trees. It seemed there was a whole army of the things down here.

Turning slightly, she fired two shot over her shoulder and cursed loudly when they both missed. _Damn this thing!_ She thought.

At almost the same moment as she had thought that, Lex heard a loud explosion behind her and turned to find the Cylon that had been chasing her was now a large pile of steaming rubble. Grinning, she stopped running and looked up as three _Vipers _flew overhead.

"It's about time you guys got here!" she said. "I was beginning to think you'd forgotten about me!"

"_I think forgetting about you is impossible, Viper!"_ Tex answered and Lex laughed.

Shifting her attention to the battle taking place in front of her, Lex dashed off again, this time to lend the Athosians a hand with the Cylons that were attacking the settlement. As she did, she noticed two familiar _Vipers_ that were starting to wreak havoc amongst the other Centurions.

"Lee! And the mighty Starbuck!" she laughed.

"_Like we're going to miss out on all the fun?"_ Lee answered.

Lex was still smiling when she took aim at the next Cylon. Two rapid shots soon had it falling to the ground, and a little cheer went up from the gathered Athosians at the arrival of help – particularly the fighters, which were making everything a whole lot easier.

Suddenly, Lex was grabbed from behind. "Hello again." Lex caught a glimpse of blue eyes and blonde hair as she was slung to the ground, and realised that she had been grabbed by the blonde she had met earlier. Number Six.

Instead of trying to reply, Lex rolled quickly to her feet and brought her zat around to shoot. But unfortunately, once again the blonde was too fast for her. Number Six sent out a lightning fast kick that made Lex wrist explode in pain and the zat spin out of her grasp.

"Why can't you people just die like you're supposed to?" Number Six asked conversationally as she punched Lex in the mouth.

Lex groaned as she was flung backwards and slammed into the ground. Man that bitch could pack a punch! Carefully picking herself up of the ground, Lex cradled her injured wrist against her chest and wiped the blood from her split lip with the other. "It's a bad habit of ours." She answered flippantly. "But then, maybe we just don't like homicidal races gaining power in the Universe."

"You truly believe you will survive this." Number Six said, not asked, and sounding almost as if she were in awe.

Lex gave her a defiant look. "Of course we will." She said. "Stronger people than you have tried to kill us before and they've never managed it!"

Number Six narrowed her eyes and instead of insulting me, lashed out again in a physical attack. Lex staggered backwards under the ferocity of the blows, and each one made pain explode somewhere on her body. She tried to fight back, but Number Six had the advantage of strength and speed and Lex's injured wrist meant she could only really use one arm.

Lex let out a cry of pain as she sank to the ground once again. Her whole body felt as if it were on fire, but she struggled to get to her feet. She had to fight. She couldn't let Number Six win. But it was as if her legs refused to cooperate.

Number Six's face entered her vision. The Cylon was grinning evilly and seemed to be enjoying herself immensely. "Now, human, you are going to die." She said and reached for Lex.

* * *

The infirmary on board the _Prometheus_ was as busy as usual. Nurses and doctors alike were busy dealing with the influx of injured personnel, even as they all worried about the damage done to the ship's engines. Janet had enough faith in her friends to know that they were doing all they could, but a tiny voice inside of her still wondered if they would manage in time to save things.

Behind her, Gaius Baltar was still lying in a coma on one of the beds. He was strapped to the bed and two Marines constantly guarded him. But in one sudden moment, his eyes snapped open. No one noticed amongst the chaos of the infirmary, until he sat up in one swift movement and tore the straps that were holding him down.

The sudden awakening of Dr, Baltar was so unexpected, that it took the Marines a moment to react, and a moment was all he needed to get completely free of his bindings. As soon as he was on his feet, Baltar became nothing more than an instrument of destruction. It was almost as if any personality he had ever had was gone and there was just a possessed and rage-filled body left.

Janet let out a cry of pain when a piece of metal slammed into her side. She had turned around the second she had heard a disturbance, just in time to see part of Baltar's bed come flying at her. Not even her military reflexes had let her dodge it completely.

One of the Marine was crumpled on the ground, blood blossoming on his shirt and the other was holding an injured arm and trying to stop the blood gushing from his broken nose. Baltar was still acting possessed and destroying or hurting anything that came into his path.

Automatically, Janet's hand drifted to the gun holstered at her waist. She was a soldier as well as a doctor and it was regulation that she wear her weapon when the ship was at battle stations. But Janet didn't draw her gun yet.

"Dr. Baltar." She said, trying to get through to the man in front of her. "Dr. Baltar, can you hear me?"

Baltar never even paused at the sound of her voice. He strode forward and roughly threw her out of his way. Janet slammed painfully into one of the walls and saw stars for a moment. When her vision cleared again, Janet was horrified to see Baltar attacking the nursing staff.

Carefully she got to her feet and this time she did draw her gun. As a doctor, her first responsibility to her patients, but as CMO she couldn't stand by and let her staff get hurt. "Dr. Baltar!" she called out more forcefully this time. "Stop this!"

Slowly, Baltar let go of the nurse he had been terrorising and looked back at her. Janet was standing near the wall against which she had been thrown, her feet spread and her gun pointed at Dr. Baltar. He saw the weapon and his face tightened in anger. Janet searched his angry mask of a face, searching for a sign of humanity in it, but she could find none.

"Dr. Baltar, if you're in there, please listen to me. Stop what you're doing and put your hands behind her head." Janet said levelly.

Baltar ignored her and started towards her, threateningly. "Please, Dr. Baltar." Janet asked again. "Stop."

"Never." Baltar hissed out in a twisted sounding voice.

With a start, Janet realised he was being controlled, probably by Anubis himself. "You will die, along with everyone else." Baltar hissed again.

"Not if I can help it." Janet said as she stared levelly down at Dr. Baltar.

Baltar suddenly lurched forwards, trying to close the distance between himself and Janet. But Janet was ready for him. Narrowing her eyes, she fired three shots, each hitting him in the head. Baltar dropped like a rock.

Hesitant and slightly disgusted, Janet stepped forward to look at him, gun still warily held in front of her. But Baltar was dead. Not even silicon circuits could withstand that kind of damage at close range.

"_What the hell is going on down there?"_ Jack's voice demanded over the comm. _"I heard gunshots!"_

With a heavy sigh, Janet holstered her gun and walked over to the intercom on the wall. "Dr. Baltar got loose and started attacking us, sir." She reported. "He's dead now."

"_Dead?"_ Jack echoed. _"Is everyone alright down there?"_

Janet glanced around the infirmary, this time taking note of the damage caused to the equipment and just how many of her staff were injured. "They will be when you give me a moment to patch them up." She replied.

"_Okay, Doc."_ Jack replied.

* * *

"Now, human, you are going to die." Number Six said and reached for Lex, before suddenly being yanked backwards by her hair.

"I do not think so." Ishta growled out at the Cylon she still had by the hair.

Behind her, Lex noticed that Teal'c and some of the others from the _Prometheus_ had arrived and were helping to fight the Cylons. They looked a little worse for wear, however, and Lex wondered how many Cylons they had had to fight before they got here.

Number Six slammed her elbow backwards, trying to break Ishta's grasp on her hair, even as she twisted her body and attempted to lock a leg behind Ishta's knees. But Ishta was too fast for Number Six. While Lex has been at a disadvantage in her fights with the Cylon, Ishta was not. As a Jaffa, Teal'c blonde wife had the same advantage of superior strength and speed compared to the average human.

Ishta let go of Number Six's the second she felt the Cylon twist, and pivoted on the ball of her foot. As Number Six was knocked slightly off balance, Ishta came up beside her and punched her straight in the mouth.

Number Six staggered backwards and wiped the blood from her lip, mimicking Lex's earlier behaviour. "Why do you care about this human so much?" Six asked.

"She's family." Ishta said simply.

Six growled. "Humanity is doomed!" she snarled.

Ishta said nothing in reply, but then, she was like that. When an enemy made stupid comments like that, she preferred to reply in actions, not words. Six suddenly snapped upright and lashed out a fierce kick at Ishta's head. Ishta blocked and retaliated sharply.

The fight was fast and brutal. Ishta had learnt her skills from the Goa'uld and had needed to use them to keep herself alive for years. Number Six, on the other hand, had never come across an opponent that could match her like this, but what she didn't have in skill, she made up for in insane fervour.

Lex, still sitting on the grass where she had been thrown, flexed her injured wrist as she watched Ishta finish the fight. She bit back the groan at the sharp pain that shot through her wrist as she moved it. "Are you injured?" Ishta asked, when she walked over.

"Just a few bruises and my wrist." Lex answered, her eyes drifting towards Number Six's crumpled form.

"She won't be bothering us anymore." Istha stated.

"There are other copies, though." Lex reminded her.

Ishta raised an eyebrow in a gesture that scarily mimicked Teal'c's. "And the others will deal with them."

Shifting their gaze, the two women looked out over the remains of the battlefield and noticed it was almost over. Lex briefly wondered how her friends were doing and experienced that ache she always got when they were flying and she wasn't.

They caught sight of Teal'c, just as he slammed one of the ends of his staff weapon into the gut of another humanoid Cylon. Lex recognised his as one of the models that accompanied Number Six on the attack aboard the _Galactica_.

The Cylon doubled over in obvious pain, as Teal'c ruthlessly slammed the other end of his staff weapon onto the back of his neck, efficiently breaking it. The Cylon dropped like a stone. It was moments like this that you were very glad Teal'c was on your side – he could be quite fearsome.

Teyla walked up at that moment. She smiled at Teal'c, who inclined his head in greeting, before nodding to Lex and Ishta. "The battle seems over here." She said. "Perhaps you should tell the others."

"I'll do that." Lex said, before speaking into her radio. "Command, this is Viper. The Athosian Continent is safe. The Cylons have just had their asses kicked."

A second after she spoke, the sky erupted in a vibrant explosion.

* * *

Jack looked out at the Basestar attacking the _Prometheus_ and wondered how they were going to get out of this one if Bill's plan didn't work. Anubis was sitting in that ship, staring down at them all in arrogant confidence and Jack really longed to wipe the smirk off his face – or at least the one that would be there if he had a face.

Suddenly he heard what sounded like gunshots coming from the intercom that connected him with the infirmary. "What the hell is going on down there?" he demanded. "I heard gunshots!"

Janet's voice answered him a moment later, sounding a little sad. _"Dr. Baltar got loose and started attacking us, sir."_ She reported. _"He's dead now."_

In a momentary flash of intuition, Jack knew it had been Janet who had killed him. "Dead?" he echoed. "Is everyone alright down there?"

"_They will be when you give me a moment to patch them up."_ She replied a little tartly.

"Okay, Doc." Jack replied. He would have loved to have offered her a few words of understanding or comfort, but now was so not the time for it.

"Somebody, please give me some good news." He muttered, as yet another blast slammed into the ship.

"Sir, the _Galactica_ just appeared on the other side of that Basestar!" Woodward reported happily.

"Finally!" Jack muttered.

Almost in the same moment the _Galactica_ had appeared on the other side of the Basestar, the Basestar's attention had switched until it was focused on the new, and probably more dangerous, threat. "Keep firing at that thing!" Jack ordered.

"_General!"_ Sam's voice called out over the comm. _"I've repaired the engines. You should be able to restart them now!"_

"Yes!" Jack yelled. "Get them fired up and let's end this fight!"

The _Prometheus_ almost seemed to surge with life in the next moment. She shuddered a little, as her engines whined, before they settled down into their usual almost-purr. Sam was going to stay with the engines in case they ran into anymore problems, and Jack devoted his focus to finally kicking Anubis' butt.

"Focus the fire on that Basestar!" Jack ordered, meaning the one in front of the ship.

There was still another Basestar out there, Jack knew, but he had every confidence that Atlantis could handle that one. The blasts the _Prometheus_ fired at Anubis' Basestar lit up the shield like fireworks, as the _Galactica_ did the same thing on the other side. But, even with the combined firepower working against him, Anubis still managed to get off a few good shots.

"_Attention human ships."_ A voice sounding very much like Sharon Valerii echoed eerily over the comm. _"In a few seconds, the shields to the two Basestars will disappear and you will be able to destroy them."_

"Who is this?" Jack snapped at the voice. "And just why should we believe you?"

"_We are the Cylon Resistance. You don't have to believe me. You'll see it for yourself in a few seconds."_ The voice answered._ "I just have one request, General: do not miss. We have sacrificed much for this moment."_

Jack narrowed his eyes. "Does that sound familiar to anyone?" he muttered.

Daniel gave a wry grin next to him, having caught his friend's quiet words. It did indeed sound familiar. The arrogant tone of the demands sounded just like the Tok'ra, along with the suddenness of the contact. "It's the Tok'ra all over again, isn't it?" Daniel replied.

As the voice had said, the shields surrounding the Basestars did disappear a second later, as a few small explosions rocked each Cylon ship. Not needing a second opportunity, Jack snapped out. "Fire!"

At the same time, John and the other people in Atlantis' defence towers unleashed the full power of the Ancient city at the second Basestar.

The resulting explosion was immense. Atlantis, the _Prometheus_ and the _Galactica_ made short work of the now defenceless ships and everything suddenly exploded into vibrant, white hot flames – only for them to disappear a second later, leaving only the somewhat abused looking human ships and a few large clumps of charred debris.

It was over.

To Be Continued…


	19. Celebrations

Author's Note: Okay, guys. Here's the end of it. I hope you enjoy!

Cheeky.

* * *

The Thirteenth Colony:

Chapter Seventeen:

By cheeky-chaos

Jack sighed as he leaned back against the chair he sat in. It was finally over. Behind him the rest of the crew were letting out large whoops of relief and he shared a smile with Daniel, who still sat at the communications post. He felt the tension flood out of his body as the threat of immediate destruction faded. All three Basestars were gone, as was Anubis.

"Great work everyone." He said. "But we've still got to clean up this mess."

"Shall I start collecting a damage report?" Daniel asked softly.

Jack gave his friend a wry smile. "You might as well." He said. "And you'd better check in with Sam. I have a feeling we're going to have to give her a bit more time to properly fix those engines."

Daniel just rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on, Jack." He said. "That's what she just did."

Jack laughed. "You're probably right." He agreed, knowing just how smart his wife really was.

"U.N.E.S Prometheus_, this is Atlantis."_ Jack grinned when he heard John's familiar voice. _"You still in one piece up there?"_

"I think so." Jack replied. "How about you?"

"_Yeah, we're fine."_ John answered. _"But things were hairy there for a while."_

"You're telling me." Jack said dryly.

"_So, the real question still remains to be answered."_ John remarked. _"Who's going to tell Stargate Command?"_

Jack groaned. "Don't suppose there's any way you'd consider doing it?" he asked hopefully.

John chuckled. _"No way in hell, Jack."_

"I thought you'd say that." Jack replied.

The two friends said their goodbyes as Daniel looked over from his seat. "I've got the _Galactica_ wanting to talk to you." He told Jack. "And Sam said the engines are working better than new."

"Well, at least that's one piece of good news." Jack remarked, before connecting to the _Galactica_."

"_Battlestar Galactica_, this is General Jack O'Neill of the _U.N.E.S Prometheus_." He said formally.

"_Nice to hear you're still alive, General."_ Bill greeted. _"How are the engines?"_

"Working better than new, I hear." Jack answered. "How's the _Galactica_ holding up?"

"_Oh, she's seen worse fights than this."_ Bill replied, before pausing slightly. _"How are we going to deal with this, Jack?"_

Jack caught the Commander's serious tone and judged he was talking about the new developments about the Cylons – both the revelation of just who they worshiped as a God, and the existence of a Cylon Resistance. "Head to Atlantis." He told Bill. "We'll fix up the details when we get there."

"_Thanks, Jack."_ Bill said. _"I'll see you there."_

"Right behind you." Jack said.

As soon as the _Prometheus_ was pointed in the direction of Atlantis, Jack sank down in his chair and closed his eyes. A wave of exhaustion swamped him and he wanted nothing more than to sleep for a week. However, there was little chance of that happening. There was a whole lot more that needed to be done, both inside the Fleet and now to welcome the Colonials to the Thirteenth Colony.

And to make matters worse, Jack could see his retirement disappearing before his eyes. He could just hear General Hayes and the President of the U.N.E persuading him (in not too gentle tones) that staying with the Fleet really was the best thing to do.

For crying out loud, he'd never get to go fishing at this rate!

* * *

Commander William Adama gave his 2IC, Colonel Saul Tigh, a large grin as the last Basestar exploded in a fiery white flash. "We did it!" he said.

Tigh clapped his old friend on the shoulder. "We sure did!" he agreed.

Still grinning, as the rest of the CIC erupted into cheers, Bill turned to Dee. "Can you get the _Prometheus_ on the line?"

"Yes, sir." Dee replied.

"_Battlestar Galactica, this is General Jack O'Neill of the U.N.E.S Prometheus." _Jack's voice greeted Dee's call a few moments later, as she passed it over to Commander Adama.

"Nice to hear you're still alive, General." Bill greeted. "How are the engines?"

"_Working better than new, I hear." _Jack answered dryly. _"How's the Galactica holding up?"_

"Oh, she's seen worse fights than this." Bill replied. The _Galactica_ had survived the Cylon War, getting turned into a museum and then the attack on the Colonies. She was made of tough stuff, and Bill secretly believed that she was indestructible.

Pausing to glance at President Roslin, who had arrived on the _Galactica_ the moment the fighting had stopped, Bill continued in a more serious tone. "How are we going to deal with this, Jack?"

There were so many new details to deal with. The Cylon God had been revealed, and turned out to be something scarier than the Cylons themselves. Starbuck had been found, along with a copy of the same Cylon who had shot him and there was now a Cylon Resistance to deal with. Could those toasters really have a change of heart? Not to mention the fact they were only a short trip away from the Thirteenth Colony – a colony Bill hadn't really believed had actually existed.

"_Head to Atlantis."_ Jack told Bill. _"We'll fix up the details when we get there."_

"Thanks, Jack." Bill said, relief washing over him – some of those details were things he couldn't really face just yet. "I'll see you there."

"_Right behind you." _Jack said

Replacing the handset, Bill looked over at Laura. "This would be where you take over, Madam President." He said.

"So it seems." Laura replied.

There was a small pause, as the rest of the CIC continued to chatter in exuberant tones at the stunning defeat they had just handed the Cylons with the help of their new allies. "At least look on the bright side." Colonel Tigh said. "We found the thirteenth colony, didn't we?"

Bill shot his 2IC a look. "I thought you didn't believe in the thirteenth colony, Saul?" he asked.

Tigh gave a wry shrug. "That was before I found a bunch of humans more persistent and determined than you are." He said. "Now I realise that impossible isn't a word most people understand the meaning of."

Bill grinned, as Laura said. "I couldn't have put it better myself, Colonel."

Suddenly the doors to the CIC burst open, and a model of Number Six burst in, a gun held in her hand. She looked battered and bleeding, as if she had narrowly missed the explosions that had destroyed the Basestar she was on. Reacting instantly, before anyone else could, she spun towards Bill, Tigh and Laura and fired.

Bill and Tigh, being military men, reacted to the danger on instinct, even though they both knew they wouldn't be fast enough to avoid the bullets being fired at them. Laura was a beat slower, but she nevertheless tried to avoid getting shot by the Cylon.

Gaeta, Karl Agathon and Sharon Valerii, having been having a quiet conversation in the corner reacted in the same instant. Karl sprang for the President, managing to knock her out of the firing line, seconds before bullets slammed into the wall just behind where she had been standing. Gaeta had grabbed Colonel Tigh by the arm and had dragged him behind one of the consoles to take cover from the homicidal Cylon.

Unfortunately for Bill, he had been the one Number Six had aimed at first and there was no cover for him to hide behind. But Sharon, perhaps swayed by her intense guilt at having shot the Commander before, even though it had not been this particular model, threw herself at Bill and managed to shove him out the way as the first bullet slammed into her shoulder.

She let out a cry of pain as she landed heavily on the floor. Colonel Tigh stood up from behind the console as Number Six's attention was diverted for a moment and shot her until he ran out of bullets. Karl stared at the bleeding body of Sharon on the decking, as Bill bellowed. "Someone get me Doc Cottle!"

Chaos erupted at his words.

* * *

The hanger bay of the _Galactica_ burst into shouts and cheers as soon as everyone caught sight of the fiery explosion outside. The noise level only increased as the fighters, both _Vipers _and _Interceptors_ started arriving.

Lee was one of the first pilots out of his fighter, and grinning madly at the success of the battle, clapped an equally happy Chief Tyrol on the shoulder. "We did it!" Lee yelled. "Yeah!"

Tyrol added his enthusiastic shout to Lee's as the rest of the deck crew gathered around and joined in the congratulations and cheering. Some of the _Prometheus_ pilots were the next to arrive, Merlin, Ice and Tex, who all came over to join Lee and the Chief in their celebrations.

"Yee ha!" Tex bellowed, before leaping forward and giving Lee a big hug. "Take that you Toasters!"

"Alright!" Hotdog added his yells to the chorus as he and Crashdown leapt out of their _Vipers_.

"Nice flying, Apollo!" Crashdown added.

"Apollo?" a voice called out. "Shouldn't that be the Mighty Starbuck?"

Lee, Crashdown and Hotdog all spun around to see Starbuck standing on the wing of her fighter, hands on her hips and an eyebrow raised. "All hail the Mighty Starbuck, Queen of the Viper." Lee said sarcastically.

"Don't make me come down there and hit you!" Kara threatened, but grinned anyway, and jumped onto the deck.

"We did it!" Lee said to her and, still grinning, she gave him a hug in congratulation.

"I know!" she echoed, just as excited.

The pilots yelled and cheered for a long while, the relief of finally beating the Cylons almost making them giddy. There was just such a mood of reprieve and exhilaration about the whole crew that everyone felt like celebrating a bit harder than usual. It didn't take long for the bottles of ambrosia and the Chief's hooch to make an appearance, and then the cards came out.

But Lee suddenly didn't feel in the mood to party. The events of the last few hours seemed to hit him and he left the hanger bay, searching for his office and moment of peace and quiet. There had been such an intense moment of panic out there when Kara had disappeared. Lee was sure he had stopped breathing completely. It had felt almost like someone had ripped out his soul. And if he couldn't tell what that meant, he really was stupid.

As the feeling of intense relief at the final destruction of the Cylons had faded, Lee had become overwhelmed with a need to grab Kara and kiss her senseless, or until she hit him. Whichever came first. Not the type of actions a CAG should be doing, particularly in full view of the entire deck crew.

"Lee?" Kara's voice jolted him out of his thoughts, and he turned to find her standing in the doorway, a concerned look on her face.

"Hey." He greeted, not sure he wanted her here – or that he trusted his reactions around her just yet. He needed time to get his emotions under control, if it were still possible.

"You skipped out of there pretty early." Kara said, meaning the hanger. "We're getting a pyramid game started if you want to join. No word from the Old Man yet, though."

Lee gave her a small smile. "Sure, I'll head over soon." He said.

Kara gave him a funny look. "Lee, what's frakking wrong with you?" she snapped. "We've just handed the Toaster's their asses, and you're acting like someone died!"

"I'm fine." Lee shot back, suddenly angry that Kara knew him so well.

"Well, I'm sorry I asked!" Kara barked, her temper snapping.

She spun around and headed for the door, before stopping and spinning back. "Actually, I'm not frakking sorry." She yelled. "Get your head back in the game, Lee, and come and celebrate with the crew. You never know, you might actually have some fun!"

"Maybe I'm just not in the mood for company." Lee said.

Kara gave him the same funny look as before, then rolled her eyes. "You are one weird guy, Lee Adama." She said.

With a sigh, she came and sat down next to Lee at his deck. After staring at him for a moment, she turned her gaze to the wall, like he had. Lee tried to think, but merely her presence beside him seemed to distract him from it. She sighed again. "You know, it would be more fun if we were playing pyramid right now." she said.

Her comment surprised a laugh out of Lee. It was just like Kara to do or say the last thing he expected. "So are you going to tell me what's really wrong?" she asked.

Lee stared at the wall for a long while, until Kara was sure he wasn't going to answer her question. Just as she was about to leave, he spoke. "You asked who died." He said softly. "I thought you did."

"I did?" Kara echoed, everything suddenly making sense.

"I though they killed you." Lee continued. "One minute you were there, the next…"

Kara put her hand on Lee's shoulder reassuringly. "Hey, it takes more than a Cylon Raider or two to kill me." She said with her trademark grin. "How many times have they tried and failed?"

But Lee didn't react to her teasing remarks. In an instant Kara realised just what was really bothering him and caught the look of anguish in his eyes. Something inside of her broke at that moment, and Kara wasn't sure she wanted to admit it was her heart. How had everything become so frakked up between them?

Leaning back, Kara decided to do something about it. She crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, I'm not dead."

"You could have been." Lee countered softly.

"So could you, you know." She said.

Lee blinked in surprise and turned to face her. Kara took a deep breath and decided that if this wasn't the moment to be truthful, nothing would be. "Every time we get into a cockpit Lee, there's a chance we won't come back." She said bluntly. "How many friends have we lost? But every time we accept those risks. Obsessing over what could have been isn't going to help."

"Besides," she continued, her courage faltering now that it was time to actually say the words. "I'm not going to die. I've got too much to loose."

"Oh, yeah?" Lee asked, the ghost of a smile coming back to his face. "And what would that be?"

"You."

Lee blinked. Then blinked again. Had Kara just said what he thought she had. "Sorry?"

"I said, you." Kara repeated, annoyed. "I don't want to loose you, Lee."

Lee smiled, trying to hide the pain he felt. She needed him as a friend and that was all. It was always all it would be. It was about time he woke up to that fact. "Yeah, no one else will put up with you."

Kara muttered a curse under her breath. Damn Lee and his stubborn head. "That's not what I meant, and you know it!" she snapped.

Lee tensed at her words. "So what exactly did you mean, Starbuck?" he asked coolly.

"Oh, frak you, Lee!" Kara growled.

Then she reached back and hit him right in the jaw. She put all her anger behind that punch and sent Lee sprawling out of his chair and onto the deck. Standing up, Kara moved until she was standing over him. "Get it yet?" she snapped.

Lee lay on the ground and rubbed his jaw. Then he accepted Kara's hand to help him up, all the time regarding her with an indecipherable look. "Maybe you should spell it out for me." Lee suggested.

That made Kara's blood boil. "Adama…" she began, before catching sight of his grin. She narrowed her eyes, her ire anything but soothed. "Why, you-"

Abruptly, she was cut off by Lee's mouth descending on hers and suddenly she was kissing the man she had been in love with for such a long time. His strong arms came around her waist, holding her close and her hands fisted in his uniform as she felt his heart pound beneath them. There was nothing soft or gentle about the kiss. Now that all semblances of denial and restraint were gone, it was pure feeling. Passionate and wild, the pair let each other know the feelings their words could never tell.

When the need to breath became urgent, the two broke apart. "Just so you know, this isn't just a passing thing, Kara." Lee growled out the warning. "This is forever. I love you."

"Good." Kara said, before dragging his mouth back down to hers.

* * *

Lex found herself sitting in the _Galactica's_ infirmary. She sighed as she fidgeted on the bed. This waiting around was beginning to annoy her. Just when she was about to get up and walk out, Lucas walked over. "And where do you think you're going?" he asked.

"There's a party on the hanger deck, and if I don't get out of here soon, all the fun will be over!" Lex moaned.

Lucas rolled his eyes. "Give me a look then."

Using his fingers, he gently looked over her wrist, before resorting to the scanner. Shaking his head at Lex's continued fidgeting, he reached for a bandage and began binding up her wrist. "It's just a sprain." Lucas said, as he put the finishing touches on the bandage. "You'll be fine."

"How long until I can fly again?" Lex asked.

"That depends on how fast they can fix your ship." Lucas told her.

Lex groaned. "That could take _weeks_!"

Lucas chuckled softly and shook his head. "No, it won't." he said. "It's already on Atlantis and your brother is probably already tinkering with the engines."

Lex's eyes lit up speculatively. "I wonder if I can get him to make a few upgrades…"

Lucas shook his head. "No." he said firmly.

"Party pooper." Lex grumbled.

At that moment, there was a rush at the door and Doc Cottle rushed in beside a stretcher. Stretching so she could see over Lucas' shoulder, Lex saw it was Sharon Valerii. The woman's face was pale and Lex wondered what had happened.

"What's going on?" Lucas asked, already in efficient Doctor mode.

"Gunshot to the shoulder." Cottle barked out.

Lex stayed where she was for a moment, watching Cottle and Lucas fuss over Sharon as they began to treat her wound. "It was a damn Cylon." Bill Adama said, having followed the stretcher into the infirmary.

Raising her eyebrows in surprise, Lex looked at him. "Anything we need to do about that, sir?" she asked, getting off the bed she was sitting on.

Bill gave her a tired smile. "No, Captain." He said. "It's been dealt with. Now, why aren't you at the large party on the hanger deck?"

With a grin, Lex snapped out a salute (with her good arm). "Yes, sir!"

After a final glance towards Sharon and Lucas, Lex paused long enough to find out that she'd be okay, before slipping out of the infirmary. As she did, she almost collided with a very worried Karl Agathon, who had been racing to the infirmary.

"Sorry." He muttered.

Lex smiled softly, but before she could reply, he had disappeared through the doors. Shaking her head, Lex continued on her way to the hanger bay. Her path took her via the pilots' bunkroom and Lee's office. Pausing, she checked the bunkroom, but found it deserted. Not that she was really surprised at that. She was just about to leave when she heard a large thump coming from Lee's office.

Puzzled, Lex walked over to the hatch. It was slightly open and she was about to knock, when she glimpsed something through the crack between the door and its frame. Eyes widening in surprise, Lex bit her lip to keep from laughing. Beyond the door, a half naked Kara had slammed an equally half naked Lee against the bulkhead, causing the thump she had heard. No guesses for what they were up to!

Giving the pair some privacy, Lex turned and resumed her path towards the hanger deck. She half wished she had a camera, because something like that could be valuable blackmail material – or fun gossip to trade around the pyramid table. Lex was still grinning when she finally got to the hanger.

"Viper!" Ice called out enthusiastically when she entered.

Lex felt someone press a cup into her hand (the Chief's hooch) as she made her way towards her friends through the crowd, and received many celebratory and congratulatory slaps on the back. "What happened to you?" Aleksandr asked when he caught sight of the multihued bruises on Lex's face.

"That happen when you crashed your ship?" Hotdog called out.

"I didn't crash!" Lex denied with a grin. "I just parked her for a while, so I could personally kick some Cylon ass!"

The pilots erupted into knowing laughter at her words, but seemed to leave the topic alone – for now, anyway. The ribbing continued for a while, before everyone decided to join in the large pyramid game being set up in the middle of the deck. Just before Lex turned to follow her friends, Aleksandr pulled her aside for a moment.

"Have you seen Captain Adama?" he asked. "And Starbuck? It's not like them to miss a game of pyramid."

Lex fought to keep the grin off her face. Trying to maintain a serious face, she said. "I think the Captain and Starbuck will be otherwise occupied for a little while."

Aleksandr raised his eyebrows as he got the meaning of Lex's words, a grin sliding across his face. "Well, now." he said.

Lex shook her head, before tugging on his sleeve with her good hand. "Come on, enough about them." She grinned. "Let's go see how much stuff we can win from these suckers."

Sharon blinked her eyes open, her vision slightly unfocused and the light just a little too bright. Slowly, the light seemed to die back and her focus cleared. Sharon smiled softly as she made out Karl's worried face looking down on her. He broke into a relieved smile when he saw her eyes open. "You're awake." He said.

"I'm glad to hear that." Bill's voice echoed from the other side of her bed, and Sharon turned in surprise to find both Commander Adama and the President sitting beside her bed.

"Commander…" she tried to speak, but her voice was rough.

Dr. Lucas Jackson appeared in her line of vision. "You might want to take it easy." He warned, concern for his patient obvious in his face. "And you'll feel a little groggy for a while. We've got you on some strong pain killers."

"What happened?" Sharon asked.

"Don't you remember?" Lucas questioned.

* * *

Sharon tried to get her groggy mind to work, and the memories came flooding back. Number Six's appearance, the gun, trying to stop the Commander from getting shot again. "I was shot." She said.

Lucas nodded. "Yes. Your shoulder took quite a lot of damage, but you should be fine."

"My baby!" Sharon gasped, her good hand going immediately to her stomach.

"She's fine." Lucas reassured her. "We're going to take good care of both of you."

Sharon smiled gratefully at Lucas, and the doctor wandered away again, just out of earshot. Steeling herself for what was about to come, Sharon turned to face the Commander and President, grateful when she felt Karl's hand cover hers in silent support.

"Commander, I…" she began.

"You don't need to explain your actions." Bill interrupted.

Sharon frowned. "Yes, I do. I'm a Cylon and ultimately responsible for shooting you the first time…"

Again, Bill interrupted her. "No, you didn't shoot me the first time. You may have shared memories with the one who did, but you didn't do it. It was intense behaviour programming, or at least that what our friends from Earth are calling it."

The President added her thoughts to Bill's. "You gave us a reason to trust you when you helped us against the Cylons who attacked us and again when you saved the Commander's life. It may take a long time before we can fully trust you, but I don't see a reason why that can't happen."

Sharon felt a smile grace her face, and for the first time in a very long time, she felt some of the weight on her shoulders ease. She recognised the large step forward they had all just taken and felt hope for the future. "Thank you, Madame President." She said. "Commander."

Laura smiled and stood, but Bill paused a moment. "Thank you for saving my life." He said finally.

Sharon nodded, knowing how hard it had been for the Commander to accept that he had been saved by a woman who was very similar to the one who had almost killed him. She watched the two leave the infirmary, before turning back to face the man she loved. "It's actually going to be okay, isn't it?" she asked.

"Yes." Karl agreed. "It really is."

To Be Continued…


	20. Epilogue

The Thirteenth Colony:

Epilogue:

By cheeky-chaos

THREE MONTHS LATER:

Laura stared out over the lush green planet she stood on. After the destruction of the Colonies, she had wondered if she would ever get to stand on a planet again and breathe in the fresh air. The world beneath her was new, still being built, but it was home. A new home for the survivors she had risked so much to save. New Caprica.

There had been a lot of adjusting to do after that final battle. The Cylons were still out there, still determined to destroy the humans. But then, there was also the Cylon Resistance. No one quite knew what to make of them, but there was no denying that they had helped and risked much in doing so. There had also been a period of adjustment to deal with the new technology and ideas they all faced. Humanity was not as alone in the Universe as many of them had believed.

The negotiations with Earth had gone relatively smoothly, treaties had been signed and new friendships born. It had given Laura hope to see it, as had the reestablishment of Colonial Government. All the military personnel had had their ranks transferred over to the U.N.E Fleet, and most had accepted the new challenge. The reassignments had just been issued, and Laura new there had been a great deal of sadness along with the excitement. But the crew of the _Galactica_ would always be family.

All in all, the last three months had been very good for the Colonials, and with the help of Earth, the rebuilding of their lives had not been as difficult as Laura had feared. Even the animosity towards the Cylons had changed slightly, as the help of one Sharon Valerii had become public. It was, however, taking everyone a lot more effort to deal with the imminent birth of her daughter and the fact the father was human. But it was obvious how much Karl loved her and that had served to soften the prejudice, if only a little.

Laura smiled as she leaned against the railing and gazed out over New Caprica. Her term as President may have been started in war, but she was going to make sure it ended in peace.

"Madame President." A warm voice greeted from behind her.

"Commander Adama." Laura returned the warm greeting with a smile, as she turned to find Bill standing behind her on the balcony of the Colonial Government Headquarters. "Or should I say General? How is the _Galactica_?"

Bill smiled. "Oh, she's still flying." He said. "And how are you today?"

"Feeling very hopeful, actually." She answered, turning to gaze back out over New Caprica. "We've finally succeeded in doing what we promised. We've built a new home."

Bill came to stand next to her at the railing. "I never had any doubt you could do, you know." He reflected.

Laura turned in surprise to look at the man who had helped her through one of the most difficult times a person could face. "No, we did it, Bill." She said. "New Caprica is just as much yours as it is mine."

Bill smiled at her. "We found a home in a big new world." He agreed. Then he paused. "Would you object if I asked you out to lunch?"

Laura smiled, a little shyly this time. "No, not at all."

* * *

Lex smiled as the new generation BC-303 zoomed over head, and slipped on her sunglasses against the bright sunlight of the Alpha Site. Once again, she was dressed in her U.N.E uniform and carried a duffel over her shoulder. The last of the chill from the 'gate melted away in the warm summer sunlight as Lex moved through the crowd, listening to the assorted languages being spoken around her.

"It never changes, does it?" Lucas remarked from beside her.

"Nope." Lex grinned. "But why would you want it to?"

On her other side, Kara rolled her eyes. "You guys are frakking weird." She muttered.

"It runs in the family." Lex and Lucas chorused with a laugh.

Together the three of them headed towards the dock and the new ship they were to be stationed aboard. The _U.N.E.S Prometheus_ had sadly been decommissioned two weeks before, but Lex knew that the ships about to take her place would be just as much a home as the _Prommie_ had been.

"You think Lee's around somewhere?" Kara asked Lex softly.

Lex sent her a knowing grin. The two had been rather inseparable recently, but due to regulations, they weren't going to be serving on the same ship anymore. Not that it would be that much of a problem, as Lex, Lucas and Kara were to be stationed aboard the _U.N.E.S Odyssey_ on a joint mission with the _U.N.E.S Ulysses_ – the same ship on which Lee was the new CAG.

"Oh, probably." Lex answered with a shrug.

Catching the speculative look in her eyes, Lex laughed. "Come on, we have to report in first!"

"Lex!" Turning at the enthusiastic shout, Lex grinned as she was gathered into a large bear hug.

"JC!" she laughed. "What are you doing here?"

JC, Lex's older brother, shrugged. His blond hair and blue eyes reminded everyone of his mother, but he had the same boyish charm as his father. "I came to see you off, and to tell you the good news!"

"Good news?" Lex asked with a raised eyebrow, catching sight of a shy Dr. Althea Jackson behind him.

Althea was the younger sister of Lucas and had taken after her father, in both looks and temperament. "Hi, Lex." She greeted softly. "Lucas."

"So?" Lex demanded impatiently. "What is it? I know it was important enough to miss out on joining the _Prometheus_ on her last mission!"

"Yeah." Lucas agreed. "You missed out on all the fun, sis."

"Well, the research position on Atlantis was too good to pass up." Althea defended. "Besides, I wanted to be closer to JC."

Lex narrowed her eyes at her brother. "Tell me already!" she said.

JC smiled at his sister, before reaching for Althea's hand. "We're engaged." He said.

Lex smiled triumphantly. "I told you!" she crowed. "You owe me twenty bucks!"

Lucas frowned at her, as JC gaped at her. "You knew?"

Lex shrugged. "I had a feeling. Besides, you know Aunt Janet can't resist passing on gossip!"

The four of the laughed merrily for a while, Lex and Lucas offering warm congratulations to their siblings. Glancing at the time, however, made Lex cut it a little short. They had to report in for duty. She looked around for Kara as they resumed their walk, but the blonde was nowhere to be seen. "Where'd Kara go?" she asked Lucas.

"Who knows?" Lucas shrugged. "Come on, or we'll be late!"

Fifteen minutes later, Lex found herself standing outside the pilots' bunkroom on the _Odyssey_. Straightening her shoulders, she smothered her grin and thumped into the room. "Alright, listen up people!" she bellowed. "CAG on deck!"

Lex couldn't stifle the grin at the response of her new pilots. She had been dying to do that all day. "No way!" Bastien called out. "You are not our new CAG!"

"Oh, yes I am!" Lex laughed.

"Awesome!" Crashdown called out.

"This is going to be an interesting trip." Aleksandr remarked, from where he was sitting on one of the bunks.

"No." a voice said from behind Lex, as Kara entered the room and slung an arm around Lex's shoulders. "This is going to be fun!"

The End.


	21. Reunion

Author's Note: Hey guys! This story is set 10 years after the end of my other crossover, "The Thirteen Colony". I couldn't resist writing a little snapshot of a family get-together to show how everything turned out!

Please tell me what you think. Thanks :)

Cheeky.

* * *

Reunion:

By cheeky-chaos

Jack smiled as he sat at the large table doing his morning crossword and drinking his second cup of coffee for the morning. Life was good – the day was sunny and his wife wasn't up to nag him about filling in the right answers to his crossword. He did know the right answers – he just liked it better this way.

"Morning, Jack." Former-President Roslin, now Laura Adama, said with a smile as she walked into the bright kitchen. Glancing out one of the large windows, she added. "Looks like its going to be a beautiful day."

"Morning, Laura." Jack returned the greeting. "It certainly does."

Jack still couldn't quite believe it had been ten years since the _Battlestar Galactica_ had finally reached Earth – it didn't feel like ten years! In that time, New Caprica had been settled, which is where Jack was now, enjoying a weekend vacation at Laura's country estate (one of the perks of being a former-President), and there had been two Colonial Presidents.

The current Colonial President, Sharon Agathon (formerly Valerii) had converted the position into the Colonial Representative on the U.N.E Council, which was looking more and more like a central Tau'ri government every year.

On another cheerful note, the Goa'uld had finally stopped pestering them, Wraith numbers were down and even those fanatical Cylons still trying to exterminate all humans seemed to be finally giving up. Jack knew it was only a matter of time before a new enemy showed up, but that was a problem for his children's generation. He had done his fair share. Besides, he was retired.

"Morning, Laura." Sam greeted as she walked into the kitchen, before moving to give Jack a kiss.

"Hey, Sammie." Jack greeted his wife of 35 years.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Jack, a weapon used in medieval warfare is not a cupcake." She said when she caught sight of the crossword.

"I always thought it was." Bill said, also entering the kitchen, kissing his new wife as he passed and coming to sit beside Jack.

The two men shared a grin as their wives shared a look and rolled their eyes. Chuckling, Bill peered at the crossword. "A gardening tool used to dig – a cherub."

"Nice." Jack said with a grin, filling it in. It fit perfectly.

Sam stifled an amused groan as her daughter stumbled in. "Do I smell coffee?" Lex asked.

Lex was dressed in a ratty pair of sweatpants and a tank top, with her long brown hair mussed and sticking out at odd angles. She had caught the last wormhole into New Caprica late last night from the Alpha Site, where her ship, the _U.N.E.S Explorer_, was being fitted out for its next voyage – under her command. Colonel Alexandra O'Neill. Lex had always liked the sound of that. Besides, she did have a family tradition to keep up. She was taking a brief vacation for a family reunion of sorts. The others were due in later that day.

Jack smiled at his daughter, proud of the woman she had become, despite the lack of grandkids. At 33, she was a Colonel with command of one of the foremost ships in the Tau'ri Fleet, which was a damn fine effort in Jack's book. Even with the lack of grandkids.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Laura walked through the house to the front door and opened it. Delighted, she found Lee on the other side. "Lee." She greeted warmly. "Kara."

"Laura." Lee returned the warm greeting, with a kiss on his step-mothers cheek. "Sorry we're a little early."

"It's fine." Laura replied.

Pushing past his parents in the doorway, a little blond terror took the opportunity to race through the house yelling at the top of his lungs. "Aunt Lessie!"

"You'd better come through." Laura said, watching the blond ball of trouble disappear into the house. "We're all in the kitchen."

Scooping the rampaging two-year old up as soon as he entered the kitchen, Lex swung her godson up onto her hip. "Hey there, Zak." She said with a grin and a kiss. "What've you been up to?"

Little Zak launched into an enthusiastic and detailed account of what he'd been doing since Lex had last seen him, as his parents and Laura entered the room, having followed at a slower pace.

"Hey, Dad." Lee greeted.

"Hey, son." Bill replied. "Kara."

"Old Man." Kara greeted, with her trademark cheeky grin.

Then Lee turned to Lex. "Have you been teaching my son bad habits again?" he asked.

"Who me?" Lex asked, all innocence. "Never. Have I, Zak?"

"Uh-uh." Zak agreed with a vigorous shake of his head. "Aunt Lessie's real nice. Aren't you, Aunt Lessie?"

"Of course I am." Lex replied.

Jack snorted in disbelief, but didn't say anything. He greeted Lee and Kara warmly before turning his attention, like Bill, Laura and Sam, on little Zak, who was still nestled in Lex's arms.

Kara grinned at Lex. "Hi, Lex." She said.

"Hey, Kara." Lex replied with a smile.

"I made something for you, Aunt Lessie." Zak beamed proudly, dragging a necklace out of his pocket. It was made from numerous brightly coloured beads and what looked like macaroni. "Do you like it?"

"Yes, it's beautiful. I love it." Lex told him, as she took the necklace from him and slipped it around her neck. "There. Now, how would you like a glass of chocolate milk?"

"Yes!" Zak cried excitedly, as Lex put him down.

Looking down at him, as she grabbed a glass from the cupboard, Lex raised an eyebrow. "And what's the magic word?" she asked.

"Please?" Zak looked at Lex so hopefully, that she couldn't help but smile.

That one was going to be a lady-killer just like his father, Lex just knew it. He already had the innocent charm act down pat. And he'd need it, as Lex would also bet that this boy would get into more trouble than his parents combined. She gave him the milk and ruffled his hair. "There you go, kiddo." She said.

It was then that the Jackson clan decided to descend noisily en masse on the scene. Janet and Daniel entered, carrying their grandchildren and calling out greetings. Then came the beaming parents, JC and Althea. Finally, trailing behind everyone was Lucas, still looking a little bemused.

"Grandpa!" cried Catherine, JC and Althea's oldest daughter, when she saw Jack.

"Pa?" called her younger sister, Emily. "Where, Pa?"

The two curly-haired monsters squirmed out of their other grandparents' grasp and went to fling themselves on Jack, Emily toddling a little slower than her sister as she had only just learnt to walk. After the enthusiastic greetings were over, Jack, still with two cherubs on his lap (not garden implements) turned a speculative look on his daughter.

"So, when do you think I'm getting some more grandkids, Lexie?" he asked.

"When I make General." Lex answered quickly. Then she glanced at her father. "I thought you'd be proud to have another General in the family?"

"I'd be prouder to have a General with kids." Jack replied.

Lex laughed at her father's familiar complaint. "I'm not even married yet, Dad." She reminded him.

"Yes, why is that?" Jack asked. "Isn't it about time you settled down?"

"Dad!"

JC chuckled loudly and Lex sent a glare towards her older brother. "Yes, Lex. Isn't it about time you settled down?" he echoed.

"Maybe I want to conquer the Universe first." Lex told them both.

"You can conquer the Universe with kids." Jack pointed out. "I did."

"Yeah, but it's a little hard to command a starship with toddlers underfoot." Lex retorted.

Sam looked lovingly at her husband and then back at her daughter. "It'll come." She warned with a slight smile. "And then conquering the Universe won't matter so much."

Leaning back against the kitchen bench, cup of coffee in hand and a thoroughly disgusted look on her face from all the questions and advice, Lex rolled her eyes. "Does anybody mind that until then I continue with my day job?" she asked no one in particular.

"Lucas seems to be of the same mind." Daniel remarked dryly. "I think those two have a problem, Jack."

Cutting off any further discussion, Lex put down her coffee cup. "I'm going to change." She declared, mercilessly leaving Lucas to his fate.

After all, if Lucas has said nothing to save her from the barrage of questions, she wasn't sticking around to save him. But she did wait just outside the door to the kitchen and grinned as Lucas burst out a moment later. "Thanks for the help." He said dryly.

"I gave you as much help as you gave me." Lex answered.

Lucas shook his head. "You'd think a 35 year old man wouldn't be scared of his parents anymore."

Lex shuddered. "It has nothing to do with age." She said. "They're just scary."

Lucas chuckled at her reaction. "I thought you were a Colonel?"

"Rank doesn't mean much to them, mainly because, retired or not, they all still outrank me." Lex sighed. "Now, I really do have to change."

Nodding, Lucas followed her up the stairs, hoping either hiding or safety in numbers would protect him from his matchmaking parents. That was always the downside to taking a vacation with his family. It was, however, nice to not have to wear that military green for a few days though. Lucas had almost forgotten what it felt like to wear his old jeans.

Wandering into the large guest bedroom, complete with en suite and balcony, he let out a low whistle. The large house was made mostly from rough hewn wood and stone, but inside it was gracefully and elegant. No doubt due to Laura's efforts. The guest bedroom was decorated in tones of cream and gold, and the room was large enough to have it's own couch!

"Bill and Laura sure have a nice place." Lucas said.

Lex grinned wryly. "Yeah, they do." She agreed. "The cramped quarters on the _Explorer_ are going to seem like hell after this."

Lucas gave her a teasing wink. "Don't worry." He told her. "It's not like you'll actually have much time to be in them, now that you're the commander of your very own ship."

Lex laughed sardonically. "True." She conceded.

Disappearing into the small en suite bathroom, Lex grabbed jeans, boots and a light sweater to change into, before catching sight of her hair. She groaned in despair at the tangled mess. Had she really walked around looking like that?

Lucas knocked on the door at her groan. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"My hair!" Lex moaned.

"Well, I didn't want to say anything…" Lucas teased with a grin. "Seriously, though, it's fine."

"It's a mess!"

"It's a little wild, that's all." Lucas disagreed.

He really didn't know what Lex's problem was with her hair. He liked it all wild and messy like that – even if it sometimes looked a little lopsided. Lex emerged from the bathroom, now dressed in her jeans, boots and sweater, with her hair looking decidedly more subdued. On impulse, Lucas reached over and messed it up again. Lex glared darkly at him, but he just grinned.

"Do you want me to throw you to the wolves?" she asked a little waspishly.

"You wouldn't!"

"Mess with my hair again and I just might!" Lex threatened.

As they made their way downstairs again, Lex and Lucas caught sight of Laura leading Teal'c and a heavily pregnant Ishta through to the kitchen. Pregnancy, it seemed, had made Ishta even more short tempered than usual, and the couple were arguing merrily as they followed Laura.

"Memnac is a perfectly adequate name." Teal'c stated in his serious tone.

"For a boy!" Ishta snapped. "But not for my daughter!"

"Why are you so certain it will be a girl?" Teal'c enquired, raising his infamous eyebrow.

Before Ishta could retaliate, Lex and Lucas reached the bottom of the stairs. "Hey, T." Lex greeted happily, giving the big man a kiss on the cheek. "Ishta."

"Alexandra." Teal'c replied.

Linking arms with Ishta, Lex stopped the argument from becoming even more heated and walked on towards the kitchen with the blonde woman who had watched her grow up. "So, how's the baby?" she asked brightly.

With a final dark look at her husband, Ishta turned and smiled at Lex. "_She_ is doing fine."

Teal'c and Lucas watched the two women walk off, a little bemused. "I was enjoying that." Teal'c remarked finally.

Lucas laughed. "You could always argue with me." He suggested.

Teal'c looked at him. "It's just not the same." He said sadly.

* * *

A few hours later, everyone found themselves sitting around a large table outside in the sun, enjoying a large meal and a bottle of wine or two. Dr. Cassandra Quinn (Janet and Daniel's adopted daughter) and her husband Dr. Jonas Quinn had arrived a little earlier, adding more children into the menagerie they seemed to be collecting. The children and Laura's two dogs, Fudge and Brownie, ran around the lawn making lots of noise, while the adults sat back and watched indulgently.

Sipping a nice glass of white wine, Lex leaned back and watched her family. It had grown and changed over the last ten years, not only with her nieces and godchildren, but in new "siblings" as well. Bill Adama felt more like a slightly eccentric Uncle to her these days, with Laura her ever elegant Aunt. Even Lee and Kara felt like cousins she had known all her life.

She caught Lucas smirking at her and wiped the tender smile off her face. She poked her tongue out at him in retaliation. Childish, she knew, but he always seemed to bring out the child in her. The three glasses of wine probably hadn't helped either. Lex grinned to herself. She just had too much of her father in her.

It was then that more guests arrived. "I'm beginning to feel like we're running a hotel here!" Bill joked.

But he grinned and joined in the greetings as General John Sheppard and his wife, Elizabeth, strolled over arm in arm. Behind them, their fourteen-year old twins sulked. "Go and say hello to your cousins." John told his son and daughter.

"They're not my cousins!" James, his son, complained loudly. "I don't want to talk to a bunch of babies!"

"Me either!" his sister, Terri, chimed in.

John sighed wearily, as the twins were being particularly difficult now that they had hit their teenage years. "Well, I think they're perfectly lovely." Annie, Sharon and Karl Agathon's 10 year old daughter said as she walked past.

Sharon and Karl smiled as they walked up to join everyone, having managed to get some time away from being the First Couple of the Colonies. Grumbling, but thankfully without further comment, the twins joined her and the adults called out their greetings to the others. Grabbing some spare seats, they all started tucking into the foods at the loud and boisterous conversation resumed. The rest of the afternoon and early evening was spent in a myriad of conversations and competitions, mothers and fathers leaving only to put tired little ones to bed or to occupy the larger ones with video games.

The braziers were lit at the sun set, and gradually everyone broke up into smaller groups as they finished eating. John and Jack were merrily debating the merits of hockey versus football, with the occasional interjection from Daniel, Teal'c or Bill. Sam, Elizabeth and Laura were trading horror stories about all the formal dinners and diplomatic nightmares they had been to. Kara, Althea and Ishta were all cooing about babies – well, Althea was cooing, but both Kara and Ishta had little smiles on their faces, as close to mushy as Lucas had ever seen them. Lee and Karl were talking about their days back at the Academy, mostly stories about how much trouble Kara had gotten them into. And Lex and Sharon were playing chess.

Grinning in triumph, Lex moved her bishop. "Check mate!" she said.

Sharon blinked for a moment and then smiled softly. "So it is." She agreed. "Knew I should have suggested playing pyramid."

Before Lex could suggest a rematch, Sharon was distracted by her daughter running out of the house. "Mommie!"

Standing up, Sharon grunted softly as Annie ran straight into her and grabbed her around the waist, burying her face in Sharon's stomach. "I've got this." Sharon told her husband.

Prying her daughter's hands away from her sweater, Sharon took her daughters hand and started walking back towards the house. "What's wrong honey?" she asked as they strolled away.

"James was being mean and…" Annie's voice trailed off as the pair disappeared into the house.

Lex chuckled softly to herself as she packed away the chess set. When she looked up, she found Lucas staring at her. "What?" she asked. "Did you want to play?"

"No thanks." Lucas replied, still staring at her. "I'm good."

"Then, what?"

"Wanna go for a walk?" Lucas suggested suddenly.

Lex gave him a final confused look before standing. "Sure." She said. "But you know you're weird, right?"

Lucas grinned and seemed to relax a little. "It runs in the family." He replied.

The pair strolled around the lawn in the fading light, the air slowly growing cool. The wandered down towards the small creek that trickled down at the end of the property and the little pier Laura had built down there. Leaning back against the railing, Lex looked at Lucas' profile as he gazed out over the water. "So, you wanna say anything, or could you just not stand the bickering any more?" Lex asked.

Lucas grinned and turned to face her. "It was getting there." He said. "But no, I actually just wanted a chat without the matchmakers listening in."

Lex looked at Lucas in speculation. "What, you finally going to settle down with one of your nurses?" she teased.

Lucas shook his head. "Not quite."

"Then what?" Lex asked eagerly. "I have a feeling this is going to be major gossip!"

However, before either of them could say anything else, the modified pagers each of them wore on their belts gave a beep. _"Incoming hologram."_ The female voice reported.

Groaning in annoyance as Lucas frowned wryly, they both turned and jogged back to the others, knowing that the only reason they were being disturbed it because something serious was happening. "You're going to tell me what it is." Lex muttered to Lucas as the others came into sight. "Don't think this let's you out of it!"

As everyone gathered for the hologram, having received similar notices (or for those who had retired, just coming to see what the commotion was) on the lawn, a few glances were shared. Lee, Kara and Lex all grinned, knowing an adventure was not far off (particularly since Lee had also recently been granted a starship to command, now that he was a Colonel like Lex), Sharon was looking resigned to have to deal with more politics and diplomacy, John and Jonas were taking bets as to who it was and Ishta was lecturing her husband to stay out of danger _this _time.

The hologram appeared in a shimmering blue light. Lex grinned when she recognised Charles "Ice" Boone, her old wing mate and current Major. "Sorry, sirs and Madam President for interrupting, but we have a situation on our hands." He explained in his English accent. "Earth is under threat from a new enemy and we need your assistance immediately."

"Do I have time to grab my uniform?" Lex asked, knowing her duffle was still upstairs in the guest bedroom.

"No need." Ice grinned, before relaying everyone's orders. "Colonel O'Neill, Colonel Adama Major Jackson, we need to you to return to your ships. General Sheppard and Dr. Sheppard, we need you to return to Atlantis, along with Drs. O'Neill. I think we're going to need your expertise."

"Major Adama and Major Agathon," Ice continued, turning to Kara and Karl. "Stargate Command has reassigned you from the Academy to active duty, with your acceptance. We have need of your skills. Major Adama will be stationed as CAG aboard the _U.N.E.S Explorer_ and Major Agathon aboard the _U.N.E.S Icarus_, under Colonel Adama."

"Madame President," Ice added, turning to Sharon, "an emergency meeting of the U.N.E Council has been called on Earth. Transport has been arranged from the SGC, so you can accompany Teal'c, and Drs. Quinn as they report in to the SGC."

As soon as the orders were concluded, the thirteen active SGC personnel disappeared in a flash of bright light as the transporters kicked in. Suddenly the large family gathering was reduced to seven. "Guess we've got babysitting duty then." Janet remarked dryly.

Jack stared at the empty places where so many of his family and friends had been only moments before. "So…" he said after a moment. "Any cake left?"

"Aren't you even a little worried?" Daniel asked his old friend.

"Nah," Jack grinned. "They can handle it. Now, seriously, where's the cake?"

The End.


End file.
